FORM AND STRUCTURE 



that a number of pistils are 

 found entirely separate ; as a 

 rule they grow together and the 

 parts unite or coalesce. 



A single pistil consists of 

 ovary, style and stigma. The 

 Ovary is a hollow case which 

 contains the ovules ; the Stig- 

 ma is the upper part, usually 

 flattened, which is covered by 

 an adhesive secretion and which receives the pollen ; the 

 Style connects the ovary and the stigma. It may be want- 

 ing, the stigma is then said to be sessile. (Fig. 36.) 



The Ovules are tiny sac-like bodies which after they receive 

 the protoplasm of the pollen develop into seeds. 



Fic. 36 — Half a Cherry Blossom Show- 

 ing Ovary, Style and Stigma. 



INFLORESCENCE. 



Inflorescence is a term used to denote the 



arrangement of the flowers on the stem. 



Flowers may occur singly or in clusters ; 



they may be terminal or axillary. 

 Peduncle, is the stem of a solitary flower or 



of a flower cluster. 

 Pedicel, is the individual stem of each flower 



in a cluster. 

 Bract, is a small leaf found on a flower stem. 

 Involucre, is a collection of bracts around a 



flower cluster or around a single flower. 



Fig. 37. — Raceme of 

 Barberry Blossoms. 



FLOWER CLUSTERS. 



Raceme, is a cluster in which the flowers are 

 arranged along the central axis upon 

 pedicels nearly equal in length, those 

 nearest the base blooming first (Fig. 

 37). The central axis is called a rachis. 

 When the pedicels divide and subdivide 

 the raceme becomes a Panicle. When 

 a panicle stiffens and becomes rigid and 



5H 



