258 



LESSONS WITH PLANTS 



seen to be smaller than the other, and the pupil 

 may infer that it will be crowded out. The fact 

 is that the ovary of peaches, 

 apricots, plums and cherries 

 contains two ovules, but one of 

 them commonly aborts ; that 

 is, it is crowded out, and no 

 remains of it may be seen in 

 the ripened fruit. When both 

 ovules get an equal start, both 

 may persist, and the fruit is 

 " double -meated." We may 

 wonder if, in the process of 

 time, one ovule will be entirely 

 lost. 



802. While some plants bear 

 many pistils in each flower and 

 others only one, we must not 

 conclude therefrom that these features are invari- 

 able. We have already learned that any structure 

 or habit may be broken or changed upon occa- 

 sion. Fig. 246 shows a monstrosity of the peach, 

 five good pistils having formed in one flower. The 

 probability is that only one or two of them would 

 have ripened. If two or more should have per- 

 sisted, they probably would have coalesced, and a 

 double or triple peach would have been the result. 

 This duplication of pistils is not very rare in the 



Fig. 246. 

 Monstrous pistils of peach. 



