64 



FLORAL LEAVES 



is said to be apocarpous, because it is not made up of several, 

 carpels joined together. Fig. 92 shows an apocarpoiis gynse- 

 cium composed of three carpels. 



SYNCARPOUS GYN^CIUM. 



When a flower possesses more than one carpel, and its 

 carpels cohere together to form a single body, the gynsecium 

 is said to be syncarpous. In such a gynsecium the ovule- 

 containing parts (ovaries) of the carpels are joined together to 



form a single ovary, 

 which is also described 

 as being syncarpous 

 (figs- 93. 94, 95)- But 

 the styles may remain 

 separate along their 

 whole lengths (fig. 

 9S) ; or along part of 

 their lengths (fig. 95). 

 Again, not only may 

 the ovaries be com- 

 pletely fused, but also 

 the styles, so that only 



Figs. 92-95. — A gynaecium composed of three carpels. ,i ,■ . 



Fig. 92 is an apocarpous gynsecium; the other three tne StlgmaS remam 

 figures represent syncarpous gynacia. distinct in the form of 



Stigma-lobes (e.g. Wallflower); or finally, the ovaries, styles, and 

 Stigmas of the constituent carpels are completely joined together 

 — e.g. Primrose. The syncarpous ovary, representing as it does 

 parts of several carpels, may have several chambers, each 

 corresponding to one carpel.* Thus the Hyacinth has three 

 carpels joined to form a single ovary, which is three- 

 chambered; or the syncarpous ovary may have one general 

 chamber, the wall of which is formed by several carpels, 

 joined together (e.g. Violet). 



PLACENTATION. 



The mode of arrangement of the ovule-bearing portions — 

 the placentae — of the ovary is referred to under the head of 



* Rarely these chambers of the ovary are further sub-divided by additional 

 partitions, so that the chambers of the ovary are more numerous than the 

 carpels composing it — e.g. Labiatse, Boraginacese. 



