THE ROSE TRIBE. 115 



ovary. If you split the flower perpendicularly, you 

 will then perceive that this body, that looks like an 

 inferior ovary, is in reality the tube of the calyx, 

 which is contracted at the place where the stamens 

 originate, into a narrow orifice, through which the 

 tops of the styles protrude -, and that the ovaries are 

 included within that tube, forming as usual the bot- 

 tom of the styles. Perhaps you will gain a clearer 

 notion of this if you suppose that part of the tube of 

 the calyx of the Strawberry, which is included 

 between the letters b and c in the accompanying 

 figure (Jig. 2.) to be lengthened very much, while 

 all the other parts retain their size and position ; in 

 that case the carpels, with their receptacle, might 

 become much shorter than the tube of the calyx, 

 instead of being longer, and if the latter were con- 

 tracted at its mouth, no part of the carpels would be 

 visible except the tops of the styles and the stigmas. 

 The ripe fruit, or hep of the Rose, is nothing more 

 than the same tube of the calyx turned red and 

 fleshy, the sepals, and petals, and stamens having 

 dropped ofi"; in its inside will be found the carpels 

 changed to bony grains, covered with coarse stiff" 

 hairs. 



Thus are constructed those plants which most 

 exactly belong to the Rose tribe. They are all 

 harmless, and when they are sufficiently agreeable to 

 the palate, eatable ; very often, however, their juice 

 is so very austere and astringent that no use can be 

 made of them except in medicine. They have some- 

 times been employed in domestic medicine, especially 



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