I40 Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



Sometimes the part between any two whorls may be lengthened. 

 In the Capparis family, which is found chiefly in the East, 

 the thalamus is lengthened between the petals and stamens, 



Fig. 131. — Peach. Vertical section of Bovver. (From Henslow's "South 

 African Flowering Plants".) 



and again beyond the stamens, so that they are separated from 



the pistil. The thalamus may be swollen into a disk, as in 



Adenandra, Tecomaria, and Plumbago. Where there are many 



ovaries, as in the strawberry, it is much enlarged. 



Fig. 132. — Mesevibrianthemum. Vertical section of flower. (From Hens- 

 low's " .South African Flowering Plants ".) 



In some flowers the receptacle grows up in a tube around 

 the ovary and bears the perianth and stamens on the rim of 

 the tube. If the tul)c is free from the ovary, the stamens and 

 petals are perigynous.' 



If the tube is joined to the ovary as it is in the Hottentot Fig 



' Perigynous means around the ovary. Gyncecium is the term appHed 

 to all the ovaries of the flower. The corresponding term tor the stamens 

 is Andrcecium. 



