124 THE PISTIL. 



turgid, and covered -with a viscid tenacious fluid. It is either simple or divided 

 into two or more parts, and when divided the divisions for the most part arrange them- 

 selves in a whorl. The simple form has also usually a notch in the side (Fig. 237, A), 

 indicating the normal division of even a simple stigma into two parts (see page 126). The 

 anatomical character of the stigma exhibits a series of cells of various sizes, bounded on 

 the sides by another series, which are the cuticular cells. It is in direct connexion with, 

 and in fact is formed by the conducting tissue, to be described with the style, and through 

 which the pollen tubes pass (Fig. 232). The function of the stigma is that of collecting 

 the granules of pollen upon its surface, and conveying the emitted pollen tubes to the 

 style. It is oftentimes assisted in the collection of the pollen by hairs which surround 

 the style, and which, by the movement of the air, are enabled to sweep the pollen out of 

 the ruptured anther (Fig. 238). Whether it exercises any influence upon the pollen, so 

 as to cause it to emit its pollen tube, or whether the property of emission is exclusively 

 that of the pollen i; not known. The part of a leaf with which it corresponds is the 

 very apex of the midrib ; and as the leaf is folded inwards on each side of the midrib in 

 order to form the pistil, it is manifest that the stigma will be formed by the two surfaces 

 folded together, and thus be double and lateral (not absolutely terminal) . It is present 

 in all fertile plants, except in such trees as the Fir tribe, in which the seeds are naked 

 (Fig. 249), and is stalked when situate at the end of the style, and sessile when the style 

 is absent, as in the Poppy. 



Style. This resembles the filament of the anther ; and as its function is that of sus- 

 taining the stigma at a convenient distance from the ovary for the reception of the 

 pollen, it may be entirely absent. It varies in form, being flattened and leaf-like in 

 the iris, very thick and sometimes angular in other instances, whilst its most usual 

 character is that of a thread-like or tapering process. It is almost always colourless. 



The anatomy of the style is somewhat peculiar, since it not only has bundles <)f 

 vascular tissue inclosed by a cuticle, as in the filament and the petiole, but there is a 

 superadded structure called the conducting tissue (Fig. 232). This tissue is of cellular 

 character, with the cells loosely arranged, and probably is a prolongation of the placenta 

 (page 126). It is connected above with the stigma, and below with the ovary, either 

 at its highest point, as is usual, or at its side, and varies much in quantity. It is 

 analogous to the elongated midrib of the leaf. 



The Ovary. This is the expanded base of the pistil, and is destined to contain the 

 seed, and to become the fruit. It is therefore a most essential part of the organs of 

 reproduction, and is the seat of the latest developments of the plant. It is a hollow 

 organ, consisting of a single cell, or divided into two or more compartments, in each of 

 which one or more ovules or seeds are normally found. The ovules are attached to the 

 ovary by the intervention of a small mass of cellular tissue, called (from its analogue in 

 animals) the placenta, and not unusually have an intervening thread of tissue named 

 the funis. 



The form of the ovary is usually spherical or conical, but sometimes it is flattened 

 and angular. The size varies very much. It is usually sessile, or sitting upon the 

 end of the peduncle ; but in a few instances, as in the Passion flower, it is supported on 

 a long stalk. 



The analogue of the ovary is the lower expanded portion of the leaf, or, more pro- 

 perly speaking, the whole of the lamina except the terminal extremity of the elongated 

 midrib. This is the type of the construction of the ovary ; and one which enables ua 

 to determine the conformation of the ovary with considerable accuracy. "We shall now 



