FLOWERS OF ANGIOSPERMS. 



759 



the pods of the Bean, Pea, Bladder-Senna {Co/u/ca) and Paeony present easily observed 

 cases of the same kind. The foliar nature of the ovary is somewhat more difficult to 

 decipher when (as is in fact the commonest case) two, three, or more carpels are 

 united to form a simple two or more celled ovary. Suppose the three carpels repre- 

 sented in C united inwards with one another and with the three which are absent, by 

 their infolded margins : we should then have a six-celled ovary, consisting of six 

 carpels. Considering the enormous variety of the flowering-plants, the numerous 



Fig. 44i.—Butomus wnbellatiis . A flower !nat. size). B carpels, after removal of the floral leaves and 

 > (magnified) ; « stigmas. C transverse section of three of the mor.omerous carpels, each bearing numerous 

 ovules on the inner side. D a young ovule; /: the same immediately before fertilisation, ii integuments, K 

 nucellus, KS raphe, em embryo-sac. /=" transverse section through the stigmatic portion of a carpel (more highly 

 magnified) ; pollen-grains are attached to the stigmatic hairs. G transverse section of an anther; it is quadrilo- 

 cular, but the dehiscence of the lobes ß at s takes place in such a way that it appears bi-locular. //part of an 

 anther-lobe (corresponding to ß in G) : y the place where it separates from the connective, e the epidermis, x 

 the layer of fibrous cells (erulntheciuni). / diagram of the whole flower ; the perianth// consists of two alternate 

 trimerous whorls; the andniicium likewise, but the stamens of the outer whorl are doubled (/), those of the 

 innery simple and thicker. The gyncccium also consists of two trimerous whorls, an outer one c' and an inner 

 one c'. There are thus six alternate trimerous whorls, with duplication of the segments of the first staminal 



families of which are characterised and distinguished especially by their ovaries, 

 it scarcely needs mention that what has been said only indicates the most essential 

 points. I may make one more remark for the sake of those who are not botanists, 

 however, so that the word ovary shall not lead to error: the ovary is, put 

 shortly, the young fruit ; or, conversely, the subsequent fruit is the ovary which has 

 grown up and become ripe, just as the ovules are nothing further than the )oung, 

 as yet unfertilised seeds. 



The ovules of most nowcring-jilants arise at the united margins of the carpels, 

 as can be seen with the greatest clearness in the half-ripe fruits of the Bladder-Senna 



