FL0WKI{8 : TilfMK NATCin:. 



6.5 



Slicinik 



style. 



Ovary. 



thread wliicli .»inks into tli»' jiistil. somcwliMt as a rool pows down into the 

 ground, and roaches an ovule in the ovary, causin;^ it in souio unknown way to 

 develoj) an enil)ryo, and thereby hecouie a seed. 



197. As to the P/'sfi/, we have also leaiMicd that it consists of three parts, the 

 Orart/, the *S/////', and the iSti(/iiia (16); that the style is 



not always present, hein*,' only a stalk or support t'oi- the 

 sti<jrn»a. ]iut the two other parts are ess('nti;il, the 

 iiti(/)iia to receive the pollen, and the Orar;/ to contiiin tlu^ 

 ovules, or ljodi«'s which av<» to hci'ouie seeds. !*'ii.'. i :,6 

 represents a jtistil of Stonecioji, niafjnilied ; its sti<,'-n:a 

 (known hy the naked rou^diish suiface) at the \i\> of the 

 style ; the style f,'radually enlar<;in<( downwards into the 

 ovary. Here the ovary is cut in two, to show some of the 

 o\ules inside. And Fi,<;. 157 shows one of the ovules, or 

 future seeds, still nioi'e niagnilied. 



198. Nature of the Flower, in the mind of a l)otani>t, 

 who looks at the philosophy of the thin;.,', 



A jinircr ansicer-i io a .^'O-f of hranch. True, a (Ifuver 

 does not bear much resemblance to a common l>raiicli ; l)ut 

 we have seen (90-1 on') what remarkable forms and ap- 

 pearances branches, and the leaves they bear, oc^'asionally 

 take. Flowers come from buds just as branches do, and 

 sprinfj from just the same places that branches do (169). In fact, a llower is a 

 branch inteixled foi' a peculiar purpose. W'l.ile a bianch with ordinary leaves 

 is intended for i^rowiuL'. and for coUectinif from the air and preparing or 

 digesting food, — and while such peculiar l)ranches as tubers, bull)s, »Vc., are 

 for holding prepared food for future use, — a blossom is a \ery short and a 

 S|)ecial sort of branch, intended for the production of seed. If the whole flower 

 answers to a branch, then it follows that (excepting the receptacle, which is a 

 continuation of the flower-stalk) — 



Tlie parts of tlifi jhnrrr anfurri' to harrt^. This is plainly so with the sepals 

 and the petals, which are commonly called the leaves of the blossom. The 

 sepals or calyx-leaves are commoidy green and leaf-like, or partly so. And the 

 petals or corolla-leaves are leaves in shape, only more delicate in texture and in 

 colour. In many blossoms, and very plainly in a W'liite Water-Lily, the calyx- 



!*4i|" — r 



• i*-',:l hi'':' 



