Flowering and its Results. 



Linn-eus supposed that buds sprang from the pith, this being 

 found necessary to their development: We have before con- 

 sidered the plant as full of germs, which merely required a litde 

 irritation and favorable circumstances for their active develop- 

 ment. When these concur, the germ swells, forming a protube- 

 rance we call the bud. These different periods are considered, 

 by botanists, as follows : the eye, or point which first gives rise 

 to the bud ; when it swells it is termed the button, and when it 

 begins to unfold, the bud. There are three kinds of buds ; the 

 first producing flowers alone ; the second, leaves (these we have 

 considered) ; and lastly, those from which both flowers and leaves • 

 spring. The first kind is full and round ; the second, smaller, 

 and more pointed ; and the third, both in size and shape, form- 

 ing a medium between the two. The relative position of the 

 different parts of the flower-bud, is called their ^Estivation or 

 summer state, in opposition to that given to leaves in Vernation 

 or spring state. The many varieties distinguished by botanists 

 may be reduced to two, the spiral and the valvular. In the first 

 of these the same arrangements hold as in the leaves, plates of 

 which are unnecessary, as those of the leaves will answer the same 

 purpose for illustration ; in the valvular, the leaves of the calyx 

 or corolla are disposed in a true circle, without overlapping, and 

 the edges alone consequently brought into contact. 



The number of the sepals and petals is distinguished by pre- 

 fixing to their names the proper Greek numerals. Sometimes 

 either or both of these taper into a long, narrow stalk, somewhat 

 like the petiole of a leaf; the narrow portion is called the claw, 

 and that expanded the limb. In fig. 4th, A is the claw and B 

 the limb ; this form prevails in the Cruciferous tribe, pinks, &c. 



A corolla with one undivided petal, no matter how arranged, 

 is called monopetalous (monos, one; petal, blossom leaf), and of 

 any number more than one, polypetalous (many petals) ; this 

 last term generally expresses the absence of cohesion, whatever is 



