192 



PLANTS. 



soon as the styles and stamens have performed their 

 office, and the delicate embryo of the fruit has 

 made a little progress in its growth. 



T. Is there any thing to oblige the pollen or 

 dust, which is necessary for the formation of the 

 fruit, to light upon the pointal where its office is to 

 be performed ? 



A. The provision for this purpose is remarkable. 

 In the first place, the pointed is generally in the mid- 

 dle, the most favorable situation for receiving the 

 dust from the stamens which stand around it. Sec- 

 ondly, it is usually shorter than the stamens, so that 

 the pollen more readily falls upon it. Sometimes the 

 head of the flower hangs down, as in the Crown Im- 

 perial. In this flower, therefore, the pointal ought to 

 be the longest, for the dust to catch upon it in its 

 descent from the stamens. We find upon examina- 

 tion, the usual relative length of the pointal is here 

 actually inverted, and is greater than that of the sta- 

 mens. It is generally the same in all the drooping 

 flowers. 



In some flowers the stamens lean over, one or two 

 at a time, on the pointal, retiring after they have shed 

 their dust and giving place to others. This is very 

 striking in the Garden Rue. The five stamens of 

 the Cockscomb, ( Celosia) are connected at their 

 lower part by a membranous web which in moist 

 weather is relaxed, and the stamens spread for shel- 

 ter under the leaves of the flower ; but, when the air 

 is dry, the contraction of the membrane brings them 

 together, to scatter their pollen in the centre of the 



