FUNDAMENTAL TERMS. 



found, if you watch it, to discharge a small quantity 

 of yellow powder, called the pollen. The pollen 

 has a highly curious office to perform, as will be 

 shewn you presently. 



Next to the stamens, and occupying the very 

 centre of the flower, are a number of little green 

 grains, which look almost like green scales ; they are 

 collected in a heap, and are seated upon a small ele- 

 vated receptacle {fig. 3.) ; w^e call the whole collection 

 of them the pistil, and each separate one a carpel. 

 They are too small to be seen readily without a mag- 

 nifying glass ; but if they are examined in that way, 

 you will remark that each is roundish at the bottom, 

 and gradually contracted into a kind of short bent 

 horn at the top ; the rounded part (^fig. 4. «.) is the 

 OVARY ; the horn (Z>.) is the style ; and the tip of the 

 style (c), which is rather more shining and somewhat 

 wider than the style itself, is named the stigma ; so 

 that a carpel consists of ovary, style, and stigma. 

 At first sight, you may take the carpels to be solid, 

 and fancy them to be young seeds : but, in both 

 opinions, you would be mistaken. The ovary of each 

 carpel is hollow {fig. 5.) ; and contains a young seed 

 called an ovule {fig. 5. cL), or little egg ; so that the 

 carpel, instead of being the seed, is the part that con- 

 tains the seed. 



Although the ovule is really the young seed, yet 

 it is not always certain that it will grow into a seed ; 

 w^hether or not this happens, depends upon the pollen, 

 of which we have already spoken, falling upon the 

 stigma. If the pollen does fall on the stigma, it 



