b4 REPRODUCTION OF PLANTS. 



of the pollen grains varies extremely ; " its func- 

 tion is to vivify the ovules." * 



60. The Pistil occupies the centre of the 

 flower, and consists of three parts ; the ovary, 

 the style, and the stigma. " The ovary is a hol- 

 low case enclosing ovules (or young seeds). It 

 contains one or more cavities, called cells. The 

 stigma is the upper extremity of the pistil. The 

 style is the part that connects the ovary and 

 stigma ; it is frequently absent, and is no more 

 essential to a pistil, than a petiole to a leaf, or a 

 filament to an anther." -j- The pistil, or ova- 

 riuin, is frequently composed of several carpels, 

 (61) each having its separate ovary, style, and 

 stigma. 



61. Carpel. The pistil, anatomically consi- 

 dered, is in reality a modified leaf, or whorl of 

 leaves, and a carpel " is formed by a folded 

 leaf, the upper surface of which is turned in- 

 wards and the lower outwards ; and within which 

 are developed one or a greater number of buds, 

 which are the ovules." 



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



J Lindley 's Elements of Botany, p. 50. 



Professor Lindley has made the subject of the carpels 

 so clear in his " Ladies' Botany" that it may be well to 

 add his explanation to what is given above. " Next to 



