54 MEMBERS OF PLANTS. 



like substance on which the cashew nut grows is also 

 only a receptacle. It is common in the instance of 

 composite flowers, such as the daisy and thistle, when 

 a number of florets rest on one receptacle. A good 

 notion may be formed of this receptacle by blowing 

 the downy seeds from the head of a dandelion, the 

 round button which is thus exposed being the common 

 receptacle. 



There is often a peculiar prolongation of the recep- 

 tacle *, which remains when the pistil is detached, as in 

 the raspberry ; but this must not be confounded with 

 a contraction of the base of the seed organ 2 , as in the 

 poppy. 



The Blossom. 



I shall term that part of the flower contained im- 

 mediately within the flower- cup, the blossom 3 , though 

 it is not in all cases agreed what part is to be called 

 the cup, and what the blossom ; for instance in the 

 orchis, the narcissus, and mezereon, though popularly 

 supposed to have finely- coloured blossoms, M. A. Rich- 

 ard, and other eminent botanists, deny that they have 

 any blossom at all, the coloured flowers consisting only 

 of the cup. In the Virginian spider wort, water plan- 

 tain, and arrow head, there are six divisions in the 

 flower ; three outer, which are green, and which most 

 people would be disposed to consider the flower- cup, 

 and three inner, variously coloured, which to a simple 



(1) In Latin, Gynophorum. (2) In Latin, Podogynum, 



(3) In Latin, Corolla. 



