THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM 347 



GyncEcia essentially like those of marsh-marigold are 

 found in Christmas roses, columbines, peonies, and monks- 

 hoods (Figs. 178, 282, 287, 284). In anemonies (Fig. 297), 

 each carpel contains at first the rudiments of several ovules, 

 but only one (the lowest) develops, the rest remaining mere 

 rudiments. Many genera, as for example, crowfoots, mouse- 

 tails, meadow rues, and clematises (Figs. 285, 290, 293) have 

 only a single ovule in each carpel from the first. In a few cases 

 it happens, as in femiel-flowers (Fig. 286) and certain species 

 nearly related to the Christmas rose, that the carpels are 

 more or less united with one another at the base, thus form- 

 ing a coni'pound pistil comparable to that of flax. As a result 

 of this union of the carpels there is formed a single compound 

 placenta which being at the center of the ovary is termed 

 axile. It is obvious that a compound pistil, say of five carpels, 

 requires less material than an equal number of separate 

 carpels of the same size, just as it takes less bricks to build a 

 chimney with five flues than it does to make for each fine a 

 separate chimney. Almost all of the crowfoot family have 

 simple pistils, i. e., consisting of but one carpel. The number 

 of simple pistils may be many, as in crowfoots, mouse-tails, 

 and anemonies; several or few, as in Christmas rose, colum- 

 bines, peonies, and monkshoods; or onlj' one, as in bane- 

 berries. 



When both stamens and pistils are present (as in nearly all 

 of the crowfoot family) the flower is said to be perfect; it is 

 imperfect when either set of essential organs is absent or rudi- 

 mentary. Flowers having stamens alone are called staminate; 

 those with pistils alone, pistillate. In certain species of 

 clematis both perfect and imperfect flowers occur; such 

 plants are termed polygamous.^ 



Androecia consisting of an indefinite number of stamens 

 like those of marsh-marigold occur in the wood-anemony, 

 peonies, and certain species of clematis (Figs. 194, 282, 291). 

 Among cultivated peonies we often find flowers which have be- 

 come "double " as the gardeners say. In these the outer sta- 



' Perfect flowers are symbolized in botany by the sign S , staminate 

 by (f , and pistillate by 9. The e.xpression S d^ 9 would thus stand 

 for polygamous. 



