THE LIFE -HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



12] 



the rest. Let us take as an example the White Lily ; 

 its flowers are lai-ge and their parts conspicuous ; any 

 other Lily will do provided it be a true Lily, and 

 not one or other of the half-hundred things which 

 are Lilies in name only. 



In the centre of a Lily flower (Fig. 66) may he seen 

 six white threads projecting from the flower, each 

 with an oblong top, generally covered with yellow 



whether by the wind or by insects, as hereafter to he 

 explained. In Fig. 70 are shown various forms of 

 poUen-grains. 



The pistil of the Lily, below, is shown in Fig. 71, 

 and consists of an " ovary," the thickened green por- 

 tion which is prolonged above into a column, which 

 is the " style," on the top of which is the three-lobed 

 knob or " stigma." Within the ovary at the base are 

 the " ovules " or rudimentary seeds, in this case con- 

 tained within three compartments, as may be seen by 

 cutting the ovary across. These parts may also be 

 seen plainly in the Primrose (Fig. 72), in which 



Fig. 69.— Stamen 

 of Amai'yllis. 



Evening Primrose. 



Holly tock. 



Hollyhock witli external 

 envelope removed. 



Phlox. 



Garlic 



■Wheat. 



Pig. 70. — PoLLEir-ORAnrs (highly magnified). 



dust. These are the " stamens," and they surround- 

 a central column with a thick three-lobed knob at 

 the top, and an oblong swollen portion at the bot- 

 tom ; this latter is the " pistil." 



The stamens (of which examples are given in 

 Figs. 67, 68, 69) consist of a longish thread analogous 

 to the stalk of the leaf, and called the filament. It 

 supports a case at the top, the " anther," in which 

 are contained the " pollen-ceUs " or microspores, and 

 which escape by the bursting of the anther, either 

 by long sUts (Mg. 67), by holes or pores (Fig. 68), 

 or by valves or trap-doors. 



The pollen-ceUs are very varied in different plants, 

 the forms having reference to their mode of transit. 



however the ovary has no compartments, but only a 

 single cavity. In Fig. 73 may be seen the essential 

 parts of the flower of the Vine after the removal of 

 the petals. Here are seen the five stamens, each 

 with its anther at the top, surrounding the pistil, 

 which in this case consists of the ovary and a. 

 stigma at the top without any intermediate style, or 

 with a very short one. 



At Fig. 74 are represented the six stamens of 

 a Wallflower surrounding the central pistil, and of 

 which two are shorter than the other four (the 

 mark of the order Cnicifera, to which the Wall- 

 flower, like the Cabbage, belongs) . 



The same parts are seen in the Foxglove flower, 



