FLOWERS AND THEIR WORK. 229 



stigma remaining free. Here the ovary is said to be inferior 

 and the flower epigynous. The ovary is thus protected, and 

 an increased surface is offered for the passage of food to the 

 developing ovules from the receptacle. 



Make and sketch longitudinal sections of the following flowers : 

 Buttercup, Narcissus, Tulip, Monkshood, Larkspur, Dead-nettle, 

 Foxglove, Snapdragon, Early Purple Orchid, Violet. Pansy, Primrose, 

 Sweet Pea, Canterbury Bell, Rose, Cherry, Bramble, Apple. Deter- 

 mine whether the flower is hypogynous, perigynous, or epigynous. 

 In each case draw the floral diagram and write the floral formula. 



261. Nectaries. A nectary is a mass of glandular tissue 

 which secretes sugary liquid (honey, or nectar). In most 

 flowers the nectary is developed on the receptacle. When 

 the flower is hypogynous, the nectary is usually a ring-like 

 outgrowth round the base of the pistil (well seen in Tobacco 

 Plant, Snapdragon, etc.), or it may be lobed or divided into 

 a number of separate glands (e.g. Stonecrop). When the 

 flower is epigynous, the nectary is usually a simple or lobed 

 ring or " disc " on top of the ovary, while in perigynous 

 flowers it usually lines the concave part of the receptacle. 

 But nectaries may develop from, or upon, any part of the 

 flower sepals in Hollyhock, petals in Buttercup and many 

 other Eanunculaceae, stamens in Violet and Pansy, in the 

 partitions between the ovary-chambers in many of the plants 

 belonging to the Lily and Daffodil families, and so on. 



Examine and sketch the nectaries of the following flowers : Butter- 

 cup, Lesser Celandine, Christmas Rose, Winter Aconite, Monkshood, 

 Larkspur, Violet, Pansy, Dead-nettle, Snapdragon. 



262. Inflorescences. Flowers may either be solitary or 

 may occur in clusters. In the latter case they are usually 

 subtended by special leaves termed bracts. Solitary flowers 

 may be either terminal, as in Tulip and Daffodil, or may 

 arise in the axils of ordinary leaves, as in Pimpernel. 



The branching of an inflorescence may be either cymose 

 or racemose. In racemose inflorescences the main axis is 

 stouter and longer than the lateral ones, whereas in the 

 cymose type the lateral axes branch more than does the 

 main axis beyond them. The growth of the main axis is in 

 this case strictly limited, and it bears usually one or two 

 lateral axes, not many axes as in most racemes. 



