LETTER XXVII. 



PISTIL THE GOOSEBERRY TRIBE THE VINE TRIBE. 



(Plate XXVII.) 



Is it possible that I should no where have told you 

 the meaning of the common word pistil? You say 

 you perfectly understand what a carpel is, but that 

 you do not find in what respect a pistil differs from it. 

 I am ashamed of my negligence, and hasten to repair 

 it. The general name of the young fruit, consisting of 

 ovary, style, and stigma, is pistil ; the pistil is usually 

 composed of several carpels, each of which has its own 

 ovary, style, and stigma, as in a Ranunculus, where the 

 mass of the carpels is the pistil ; but it may consist of 

 but one carpel, as in the Barberry, and in that case 

 the words carpel and pistil have the same meaning. 



PremisintT this, let me direct your attention to the 

 Gooseberry Tribe, of which not only the plant that 

 gives it its name, but all the currants are likewise 

 members. 



Currants you know are not confined to the kitchen 

 garden ; for besides the red, the white, and the black 

 currants, every-body now possesses the sweet-scented 

 yellow currant (Ribes aureum), the crimson currant 

 (Rihes sanguineum\ and other beautiful species which 

 have been snatched from their native rocks and wilds 



