190 



MANUAL OP BOTANY 



the latter syncarjpoas. The number of carpels of which the 

 pistil is composed is indicated by a Greek numeral prefixed to 

 the termination -gynous ; and the tiower receives oorresponding 

 names accordingly. Thus, a flower with one carpel is mono- 

 gynous, with two digynous, and so on. 



1. Apocarpous Pistil. — An apocarpous pistil may consist of 

 one or more carpels, and they are variously arranged accord- 

 ingly. When there are but two, they are always placed oppo- 

 site to each other ; when there are more than two, and the 

 number coincides with that of the sepals or petals, they are usually 

 opposite to the latter ; it is rare, however, to find the carpels 

 corresponding in number to the sepals or petals ; they are 

 generally fewer, or more numerous. The carpels may be either 



Fig. 405. 



Fig. 406. 



^e^, 



I'Uj. im. Pistil of UialUhiis Varyophyllus 

 on a stalk, (/, called the gynophore, 

 below which is the peduncle. CJn the 

 top of the ovary arc two styles, the 

 face of each of which is traversed by 

 a continuous stigmatic surface.- — - 

 Fig. 406. Pistil of Laihyrin odoralin. 

 0. Ovary, c. Persistent calyx. On 

 the top of the ovary is the style and 

 stigma, stig. 



arranged in one whorl, as in the Stonecrop (fig. 284), or in 

 several whorls alternating with each other, or they may form a 

 more or less spiral arrangement upon the thalamus. When an 

 apocarpous pistil is thus found with several rows of carpels, the 

 thalamus, instead of having a nearly flattened top, as is usually 

 the case when the number of carpels is small, frequently assumes 

 other forms ; thus, in the MagnoUa and Tulip-tree, it becomes 

 cylindrical [fig. 407) ; in the Easpberry (fig. 409, T) and Bcmun- 

 cuius (fig. 366) conical; in the Strawberry (fi^. 408) hemi- 

 spherical ; while in the Eose (fig. 285, r, r) it is hollowed 

 out like a cup, or urn, and has the carpels arranged upon its 

 inner surface. These varying conditions of the thalamus 



