84 



FLOWERS. 



[SECTION 8. 



246. That stamens are of the same general nature as petals, and there- 

 fore a modification of leaves, is shown by the gradual transitions that ocfcui 



between the one and the 

 other in many blos- 

 soms ; especially in cul- 

 tivated flowers, such as 

 Roses and Camelh'as, 

 when they begin to 

 double, that is, to change 

 their stamens into pet- 

 als. Some wild and 

 natural flowers show 

 the same interesting 

 transitions. The Caro- 

 lina Allspice and the 

 White Water-Lily ex- 

 hibit complete grada- 

 tions not only between 

 sepals and petals, but 



between petals and stamens. The sepals of our Water-Lily are green out- 

 side, but white and petal-like on the inside ; the petals, in many rows, 

 gradually grow narrower towards the centre of the flower ; some of these 

 are tipped with a trace of a yellow 

 anther, but still are petals; the 

 next are more contracted and sta- 

 men-like, but with a flat petal-like 

 filament; and a further narrow- 

 ing of this completes the genuine 

 stamen. 



247. Pistils and stamens now 

 and then change into each other in 

 some Willows; pistils often turn 

 into petals in cultivated flowers; 

 and in the Double Cherry they 

 are occasionally replaced by small 

 green leaves. Sometimes a whole 

 blossom changes into a cluster of 

 green leaves, as in the "green 

 roses " occasionally noticed in gar- 

 dens, and sometimes it degenerates into a leafy branch. So the botanist 

 regards pistils also as answering to leaves ; that is, to single leaves when 

 simple and separate, to a whorl of leaves when conjoined. 



Fio. 228. Series of sepals, petals, and stamens of White Water-Lily, showing 

 the transitions. 



fto.229. A Cactus blossom. 



