REPRODUCTION OF PLANTS. 83 



stalk by which the stamen is attached to the 

 flower, but is not an essential portion of the or- 

 gan, and is sometimes wanting ; it is formed of 

 spiral vessels, surrounded by cellular tissue on 

 the top of this filament, or occasionally, though 

 rarely, sessile on the flower, is the Anther, -a. 

 case of cellular tissue, usually consisting of two 

 lobes, which contain the Pollen. This is the 

 indispensable part of the fructifying organ. 



59. The Pollen* is a collection of minute 

 cases, " containing a fluid in which float grains 

 of starch and drops of oil. It is furnished with 

 apertures through which its lining is protruded, 

 in the form of a delicate tube, when the pollen 

 comes in contact with the stigma." f The shape 



the calyx, the inner whorls being the Corolla, while 

 the general term Perianth, is applied to the whole floral 

 envelope together, any more minute notice of the forms 

 and divisions of the calyx and corolla would be incon- 

 sistent with the intention of the present treatise, which 

 does not profess to be an Introduction to Botany. 



* Any one who wishes to study minutely the wonder- 

 ful varieties in form, &c. of the Pollen will find the sub- 

 ject illustrated by most exquisite microscopic drawings 

 in the German work by Fritzsche (" Ueber den Pollen'') 

 and in another in the same language (" Ueber das Pollen 

 der Asclepiadeen") by Ehrenherg. 



t Lindley, El. Bot. pp. 47, 49, 50. 



