122 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



and in the Fuchsia flower seen cut down lengthwise 

 (Figs. 75, 76). These figures are sufficient to ex- 

 emplify the general nature of the stamens and pistils. 

 Their form and arrangement differ from flower to 

 flower, hut the essentials remain with little or no 

 change. Thus in the Orchids we have a compli- 

 cated and elaborate arrangement, in the Lilies we 

 have a "flower" of six pieces outside the stamens 

 and pistils, in the Foxglove a sleeve-shaped flower, 

 while in the Willow (Figs. 77, 78) we have simply 



Lily, although it hy no means follows that the pollen 

 of these so-called " hermaphrodite " flowers really 

 fertilises the germs in the pistil of the same flower. 

 Very frequently, in order to secure adequate fertility 

 ajid robust seedlings, the pollen from one flower has 

 to he conveyed to the stigma of quite a different 

 flower, hut one of the same species, and although 

 close fertilisation may in some cases be the rule, yet 

 an occasional cross is found to he advantageous 

 in maintaining the health of the seedlings. In 



Pie. 73.— Eeproduotive Organs of the Vine. 

 The stamens have filaments and anthers, 

 the pistil has an ovary and a stigma, and a 

 very short style. 



Fig. 72.— Pistil of 

 Chinese Primula, 

 ■with ovary, style 

 and stigma. 



Fig. 75. — Section of Flower of 

 he Foxglove, cor, coroUa 

 turned hack ; /, filament ; a, 

 anther; s, stigma j o, ovary. 



Fig. T6. — Section of Flower 

 of the Fuchsia, showing 

 ovary and ovules, tuhnlar 

 calyx ending ia sepals re- 

 flexed, two petals, stamens 

 and style. 



Fig. 74. — Stamens 

 one tiny scale from whose axil ^fijflower"' *^^ 

 proceed, in some cases, two or 

 three stamens, and in other 

 instances one pistil without any stamens. Such cases 

 are illustrations of very simple flowers, though from 

 the fact of their being aggregated together they ap- 

 pear more complicated, or rather the whole mass of 

 flowers, "the inflorescenoe," is commonly taken for 

 the flower. In the ease of the Willow and Poplar the 

 stamen-bearing flowers (Fig. 79) are on one plant, 

 the pistil-bearing flowers on another (Fig. 80). In 

 the Hazel-nut, or Melon, stamen-bearing flowers and 

 pistU-hearing flowers are on the same plant. In 

 many cases the flowers • contain within the same 

 envelopes both male and female organs, as in the 



cases like that of the Willow this is an obvious 

 necessity, as the pollen is on one plant, the pistil on 

 another. But the same thing is equally marked, 

 though perhaps lesa obvious, in other cases; for 

 instance, the "blindness," as gardeners call it, of 

 strawberries is due to the fact that the pollen and 

 the stigma are not ripe and do not mature at the 

 same time, and hence, although both may be present 

 in the same flower, yet, as the one is ready and the 

 other is not, no fruit is formed and the flower he- 

 comes " blind." But if the pollen could he con- 

 veyed from the one flower to another where the 

 stigma was developed, fertilisation would ensue. 

 The "setting " of Grapes depends on like causes ; if 

 the poUen and stigma are both ripe at the same 



