182 



ilANUAL OF BOTANY 



be more or less complete, extending over their whole length, and 

 thus forming a tnbvilar oolnmn round the style or styles, as in 

 the Mallow (fig. 373) and Wood Sorrel (fig. 374) ; or the union 

 may only take place at the base, as in the Tamarix gallica 

 (fig. 332). The bundle or bundles, again, may be either un- 

 branehed, as in the Wood Sorrel (fig. 374) ; or branched, as in 

 the Milkwort (fig. 341) and Castor-oil Plant (fig. 379). When 

 the united filaments form a tube or column, the term andro- 

 ^j7(o/r has been applied to such a structure, as in the Mallow 

 (fig. 378) and Wood Sorrel (jig. 374). 



4. Belatwe Length. — There are two separate subjects to be 

 treated of here, namely, the relative length of t}ie stamens 

 with respect to the corolla ; and their lengtli with respect 



Fid. 



FiCf. 379. 



Fid. ;i,sn. 



Fi'j. 378. Tlie \<ifit[], a, of Jliijyericum (egpp/iftanii, ^nvvoimdeH by the stamens, 



i\ p, wliicli are united by their filaments, /,/, into tlireo buudles. Fiit. 



379. One of the branched bundles of stamens of the Castor-oil Plant (Jii- 



rill IIS communis), f, "United filaments. Fig. 380. Flower of a species 



of Valerian ( Valeriana), showing: the stamens prolonged beyond the tube 

 of the corolla, exseited. The corolla is gibbous at the base. 



to each other. "\A%en the stamens are shorter than the tube 

 of the coroUa so as to be enclosed within it, as in the Forget- 

 me-not (fig. 337), they are said to be included ; and when they 

 are longer than the tube of the corolla so as to extend beyond 

 it, as in the Valerians (figs. 821 and 380), they are exserted or 

 /ii-otrtiding. 



The relative length of the stamens \\ith respect to each 

 other presents several peculiarities. Sometimes aU the sta- 

 mens of the flower are nearly of the same length, while 

 at other times they are very unequal. This inequality may be 

 altogether irregular, following no definite rule, or take place 

 in a definite and regular manner; thus, when the flowers 



