41 



realise how the above terms may be employed in practical 

 descriptive botany : 



(1) Lax, long, pendulous racemes of Cassia Fistula. 



(2) Dense, pedunculate racemes of Abrus precatorius. 



(3) Flowers of Desmodium pulchellum in small fascicles 



in the axils of 2-foliolate bracts arranged in ter- 

 minal and axillary racemes. 



(4) Few --flowered corymb of Dolichandrone, falcata. 



(5) Spike of Terminalia belerica. 



(6) Spadix of Arisaema Wallichianum, the Cobra Plant. 



(7) Fascicled heads of Acacia Farnesiana. 



(8) Compound trichotomous cymes of Eugenia operculata. 



(9) Flowers of Trewia nudifiora fascicled in pendulous 



racemes. 



(10) Many -flowered umbelliform cymes of Leptadenia 



reticulata. 



(11) Sessile flowers of Wendlandia exserla, in large 



conical, or pyramidal, panicles. 



(12) Panicle of heads of Acacia caesia. 



(13) Panicle of umbels of Heptapleurum venulosum. 



(14) Dichotomous cymes of Cornus macropliylla in large 



terminal panicles. 



(15) Heads of Albizzia odoratissima in compact corymbs, 



arranged in large panicles. 



(16) Compact thyrsus of Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus. 



37. In a typical flower we can Parts of the 



at first sight distinguish 3 obviously distinct kinds of organs ; p^J^ 

 the outer ones are more or less clearly leaf -like in shape, often stamens' 

 with a distinct venation and sometimes green in colour. These Pistils, 

 may be called the floral envelopes and together constitute the 

 perianth. One of the important duties which the perianth has 

 to perform is to envelop and protect, especially when they 

 are young, the essential floral organs situated within them and 

 which are the stamens and pistils. The former together con- 

 stitute the male portion of the flower, called the androzoium, 

 and the latter the female part, called the gyncecium. A typica 

 stamen consists of a swollen head called the anther, situated 

 on a slender stalk called the filament. In the anther is stored 

 a yellow powdery substance called pollen, contained in two 

 little bags which are placed side by side in the anther and which, 

 when the anther is mature, open and scatter the pollen. 

 This opening is termed the dehiscence of the anther. A typical 

 single pistil consists of a swollen hollow, base, called the ovary, 

 which contains the small rounded bodies called ovules (these 



