270 STRUCTURAL BOTANY 



b. The Female Flower 



The arrangement of the organs of the female cone 

 has already been described. 



We have seen that each of the conspicuous scales 

 of the cone is an outgrowth produced on the upper 

 surface of a much smaller scale, which may be con- 

 sidered to represent a carpel. Hence we may call 

 the little scales first formed, the carpellary scales. The 

 much larger outgrowths which they bear, and which 

 in their turn bear the ovules, are called the ovuliferous 

 or seminiferous scales. The latter may be regarded as 

 forming a placenta, which in this case much exceeds 

 in size the carpel which produces it. 



There is, however, much uncertainty as to the inter- 

 pretation of the parts of the female flower in Coniferae. 



In the Fir two ovules are borne on the upper surface 

 of each ovuliferous scale. Neither the number nor 

 the position of the ovules is at all constant in the 

 Conifers generally. In the Araucarias, for example, 

 to which the " Puzzle Monkey " belongs, there is only 

 a single ovule to each carpellary scale, while in some 

 of the Cypress family a great number are produced 

 on each. The ovuliferous scale is often completely 

 absent, as in Araucaria, where the ovule is born 

 directly on the carpellary scale. In the Yew, which 

 is classed with Conifers, though it does not bear cones, 

 the ovule is not formed on a leaf at all, but is seated 

 on the end of a short branch. 



To return to the Fir : each ovule is straight (ortho- 

 tropous), and has a single integument. The micropyle 

 points inwards towards the axis of the cone, 



