56 OBJECT LESSONS IN BOTANY. 
The central organ (or organs) is the pistil. We now propose 
to notice the form of the stamens. 
100. The stamen may 
be compared to the leaf. 
Its slender, thread-like 
stalk is the filament, an- 
swering to the petiole of 
the leaf (7, p). Its head 
fi (a) is the anther, answer- 
A leaf (Fig. 155), aul ae ae me to the Pade, ‘cigs 
(Fig. 157), a stamen (Fig. 158), and a pod (pis) OVE, the anther contains 
til, Fig. 159) of Draba arabizans, placed side within its cells many dust- 
rc a saohin like particles called pol- 
len. When the cells burst the pollen escapes. Thus it ap- 
pears that the stamen consists of three members. See them 
illustrated in this figure (161) of a stamen of the Morning- 
lory. 
101. The filament is usually of a thread-like form (as its 
name, from the Latin jilum, a thread, implies), longer than 
the anther, and more or less elastic. But the filament is no 
more necessary than the stem of a leaf, and is often wanting. 
102. The anther is an oblong body at the top of the fila- 
ment, consisting of two hollow lobes joined to each other 
and to the filament by the connectile (c), which answers to the 
midvein of the leaf. The two lobes are usually marked along 
their outer edge by a seam, which at length opens into the 
cells. This opening, however it takes place, is called the 
dehiscence. If there be no filament, the anther is sess¢le. 
99. How many kinds? Situations of the two kinds respectively ? 
100. How does the stamen compare with the leaf? Specify the three mem 
bers of the stamen. 
101. Describe the filament. 102. The anther; the dehiscence. 
