162 VEGETABLE ORGANOGRAPHY. 



tions which I leave to botanists accustomed to the study 

 of analogies, but upon which I cannot venture as yet to 

 hazard an opinion. 



Section IV. 



Of Carpels considered with regard to their relation to 

 the other parts of the flower which are persistent, or 

 united around them. 



We have seen in the preceding Section what results 

 from the natural union of the carpels together, but that 

 is not sufficient to form a complete idea of the modifica- 

 tions of the fruit ; we must also study the pieces of the 

 flower which form, or seem to form, part of the fruit at 

 its maturity, viz. — the torus, the calyx, or the perigone. 



The torus, as we have said, is the base of the male 

 and corolline parts of flowers. It is sometimes pro- 

 longed around the fruit, either under the form of 

 distinct petaloid scales, as in the Columbine ; or of pili- 

 forrn filaments, as in several Cyperaceee, and then it 

 cannot produce any illusion : or under the form of a 

 membranous cup which surrounds the carpels without 

 adhering to them ; thus in Pcsonia Moutan, var. papave- 

 racea it is thin and membranous ; it surrounds the 

 carpels without adhering there; it opens at its extremity 

 to give passage to the stigmata, and as it does not de- 

 hisce it seems to make part of the fruit, from which 

 however it is distinct. In Carex a similar cup is found, 

 open at the top, and enclosing the solitary carpel with- 

 out adhering to it, although it presses closely upon it. 



In Nuphar, or the yellow-flowered Water-lily, we find 

 a thick cup, green and shining externally, closed at the 



