BLOWEES, FBXJITS AKD SEEDS. 67 



is one that contams all the organs of reproduction, as 

 seen m that of the Apple, Eose, and many other similai 

 and common plants. At the base and outside we find a 

 floral envelope or calyx, and this is divided into several 

 Jeaf-like divisions called sepals. Within the calyx there 

 is another set of floral organs called petals, which in the 

 flowers named, are larger and broader than the sepals of 

 the calyx, and usually quite conspicuous — often of a 

 brilliant color, and together form the corolla. The next 

 row of organs are stamens, these being slender and 

 thread-like, composed of a stem or filament tipped with 

 a knob-like body, called an anther, the latter being filled 

 with a fine powder, pollen, that differs "widely in size 

 and form in different kinds of plants. The stamens are 

 really the male organs of plants, for the pollen produced 

 by them is the fructifying substance, without whi6h no 

 seed can be formed in any of the higher ordei's of plants. 

 In the very center of the flower we find another set of 

 slender organs called pistils, which rest upon or are but 

 a part of what is called the ovary — the organ that con- 

 tains the ovules or embryo seeds. The pistils are the 

 female organs, and it is through these that the pollen 

 from the anthers exerts its influence upon the embryo 

 seeds in the ovary. The upper or extreme point of the 

 pistil is called the stigma, and the column, or stem be- 

 low, the style, that widens out at the base into an ovary. 

 But these simple and perfect flowers are but one among 

 the many thousands of forms to be found everywhere 

 among plants, and while in nearly all of the plants with 

 distinct flowers the pistils and stamens can be readily 

 distinguished, their size and position are far from being 

 uniform. In simple and perfect flowers, like those of the 

 Apple, both sets of organs are found in the same flower ; 

 consequently, they are called bi-sexu al or perfect, but in 

 many other kinds of plants, these organs are found in 

 eeparate flowers on the same plant, as seen in the Pines, 



