22 STRUCTURAL BOTANY. 



and alike ; that is, all the petals of one pattern, all the stamens 

 alike in form, size, position, etc. 



c, Symmetrical; having the same number of organs in each 

 set or circle. 



d, Alternating in respect to the position of the organs. This 

 implies that the several organs of each set stand not opposite to, 

 but alternating with the organs of the adjacent set ; the petals 

 alternate with the sepals and stamens; the stamens alternate 

 with the petals and pistils. 



e, That the organs be distinct, all disconnected and free from 

 each other. 



61. This is the TYPE. But it is seldom fully realized in the 

 flowers as they actually grow, although the tendency toward it 

 is universal. Deviations occur in every imaginable mode and 

 degree, causing that endless variety in the floral world which we 

 never cease to admire. For example, in our pattern flowers (5, 

 6, 7,) the pistils seem too few in the Pink and Lily, and the 

 stamens too many in all of them. 



G2. The flower of the Flax (10) combines very nearly all the conditions above specified. 

 It is complete, regular, symmetrical. Its organs are alternate and all separate ; and (dis- 

 regarding the slight cohesion of the pistils at their base) this flower well realizes our 

 type. Admitting two whorls of stamens instead of one, we have a good example of our 

 type in Stone-crop (Sedum ternatum), a little fleshy herb of our woods. Its flowers are 

 both 4-parted and 5-parted in the same plant. See also the 12-parted flowers of the com 

 mon Houseleek. 



8, Flower of Crassula lactea, regular, symmetrical, organs distinct. 9, Diagram showing it* plan. 

 10, Flower of the Scarlet Flax. 11, Diagram of its plan. 



63. The flowers of Crassula (8), an African genus sometimes 

 cultivated, afford unexceptionable examples, the sepals, petals, 



