PHANEROGAMIA : FLOWERS. 315 



turn), is distinguished from the upper thick and hollow part, contain- 

 ing the dust (pollen), called the anther (anther a). In the pistil, 

 the lower part surrounding the seed-buds (gemmulcK) is called the 

 germen*; the upper free part, which is usually covered with 

 papilla, is termed the stigma, and between these two frequently 

 a stalk-like elongation of the germen occurs, called the style. 



The flower of Phanerogamia is the only physiologically deter- 

 minate organ of the plant, since it contains the apparatus for the 

 regular propagation. But to this only two forms contribute: 

 namely, the stamens, as generators and receptacles of the pollen ; 

 and the seed-bud, as the place in which the pollen is developed 

 into the embryo. All the remaining parts of the flower : namely, 

 the envelopes of the whole perianth, the calyx, and corolla, the 

 receptacles containing the seed-bud (the germens, styles, and 

 stigma), are not, in a physiological sense, essential, and they may 

 be absent, without the flower losing its correspondence to the 

 character by which a flower is defined. 



In the correct (morphological) view of the flower, there is no 

 distinction between essential and inessential forms, and, therefore, 

 it is necessarily more proper to divide into axial and foliar or- 

 gans. The following relations of condition must be borne in 

 mind : The axis and its modifications are the basis of the flower, 

 because to them the foliar organs are attached. Attached to the 

 outer part of the axis of the flower occur several forms of true 

 foliar organs, the floral envelopes, accessory leaflets, and stamens. 

 The innermost part is occupied by organs which are formed from 

 true axial organs, or an intimate blending of these with foliar 

 organs, which are termed the female apparatus, or, better, the ru- 

 diment of the fruit. At the same time, the parts of the flower 

 are usefully grouped together and treated generally, according to 

 the relations of number and position, as well as of duration ; thus 

 we obtain this plan for our following investigations : 



A. The axial organs of the flower. 



B. The number, relative position, and duration of the parts of 

 the flower. 



C. The true foliar organs of the flower. 



a. The floral envelopes. 



b. The stamens. 



* The term hitherto most frequently applied to the seed-bud is ovule. In the first 

 volume of the first edition of this work I proposed that botanists should agree to 

 banish from their science all expressions which have a definite signification in Zoology, 

 so that for the future we might avoid the continual confusion which so readily arises 

 through the conceptions obscurely introduced from that science. With pleasure I saw 

 that a better man than myself, A. Endlicher, had been before me in this in his " En- 

 chiridion Botanicum," and throwing aside the term ovulum, had substituted for it 

 gemmula ; and, instead of the customary expression ovarium, had used the old word 

 germen for the lowest portion of the pistil. I follow him here, and believe that I have 

 translated the word gemmula tolerably closely by seed-bud (Samenknospe) ; on the other 

 hand, I retain, from the many expressions substituted for the usual name of placenta for 

 the part bearing the seed (Satnentrager), the term spermophorum in preference to tropho- 

 spermium, which is grammatically incorrect in its construction, and, signifying more, is 

 not so applicable to the purpose. 



