CH. VI, 2] 



STRUCTURE OF FLOWERS 



275 



like, as in Iris (Fig. 199). The stigma, while frequently flat, 

 or rounded, is elongated variously, and even branched, some- 

 times to almost a feather-like degree, as in some trees (Fig. 

 197). The ovules, while typically few, are sometimes but one 

 to a carpel, though often they are many, as with Poppies, in 

 which case they stand in regular 

 masses or rows upon supporting 

 ridges, usually prominent, called 

 PLACENTAE. Unlike the other 



"partsTthepistils are not fleeting 

 but persistent structures.^ for. 

 after f ert.i 1 i 7.ti nn f the pistils 



grow normally into fruits, and 

 the ovules into seeds; at least 

 this is true of the ovaries, though 

 commonly the styles dnd stigmas 

 fall with the petals, 



of the pollen tube, in Lilium 



*%'%* its own ge - 



tative nucleus, k, and a generative 



in another view, about to germi- 



ically the pistil or pistils stand 

 7>n tne receptacle separate from 

 ^EnU ulliui' |u>iAi'm, frequently the 

 other parts stand upon the ovary, 

 bringing the latter below and 

 outside of the showy part of 

 the flower, as with Apple and 

 Fuchsia ; and in this case the 



ovary is described -t as INFERIOR, is controlled by the nucleus k 

 as contrasted with the 

 SUPERIOR, condition. 



Three other less prominent 

 parts appertain to flowers : J^lie. 

 bracts. 



The RECEPTACLE is the tip of the floral stem, usually en- 

 larged to a, ^"^-"MiDg, where it bears the floral parts, though 

 sometimes it develops specialized forms, as will later be 

 noted in the section on morphology. NECTARIES excrete, 

 often in shining drops, the nectar upon winch insects feed. 



D, end of the tube, with its two 

 sperm nuclei, formed from the cell 

 m, as it nears the egg cell. (From 

 Strasburger.) 



