80 Scientific Intelligence. 



The Seminees are first considered. The carpel is often cut 

 along its edge into one or more folioles, more or less distinctly 

 petioled. Each of these folioles produces at some part of the 

 median line of its limb, a conical outgrowth or emergence, which 

 is soon covered by an annular elevation of its own epidermis and, 

 subsequently, is more deeply covered by the infolding of the limb 

 itself. The terminal exodermic cell of this emergence produces 

 directly or indirectly the mother-cell of the endosperm. This 

 highly differentiated body, composed of four distinct parts, is an 

 ovule. The petiole of the foliole is its funiculus ; the emergence 

 is the nucellus ; its first envelope, comparable to the indusium of 

 ferns, the internal integument ; its second envelope is the external 

 integument : each of these envelopes has an orifice, the endo- 

 stome for the first, and the exostome for the second, together 

 constituting the micropyle. Such an ovule is micelle and biteg- 

 min'e. But often, the nucellus has only one integument, namely 

 the outer (the inner one being wholly wanting). Such an ovule 

 is nucelle and unitegmine. 



These two divisions comprise all Seminees. Such plants always 

 have in the pistil one or more ovules with a covered nucellus. 

 Later, during the simultaneous development of the embryo and 

 albumen, each ovule increases in size, and becomes at last a seed 

 as distinct in the ripe fruit as it was in the pistil. In the fruits of 

 these plants, the ovules are permanent, that is to say, throughout 

 their development they preserve their autonomy. "En un mot, 

 elles sont seminees, parce qu'elles etaient perovulees." Accord- 

 ing to the character of the integuments, they are divided into 

 the two secondary groups, Unitegminees, and Bitegminees. The 

 latter are higher in rank than the former. 



The primary group of the Inseminees presents a larger num- 

 ber of divisions. Certain of their plants have in their pistil 

 one or more ovules, like those of the Seminees, that is to say, 

 they have a nucellus enveloped with one or two integuments. 

 In others, the carpel produces one or more ovules, but the 

 nucellus is devoid of any integument, remaining naked, Integu- 

 min'e. In others, still, the carpel is cut into one or more folioles, 

 but the foliole is not differentiated into petiole and limb, and it 

 does not produce any conical emergence. The mother-cell of the 

 endosperm is formed under the surface of the exoderm. Such an 

 ovule with neither integument nor nucellus is reduced to a foliole, 

 and is Innucelle. Finally, in some others, there is no formation 

 of folioles for the separate production of the mother-cells of the 

 endosperm. These arise from the general exoderm. The pistil is 

 in short, without ovules, Inovule. 



These five differences in structure give rise to five secondary 

 groups of Inseminees, named respectively Bitegminees, Uniteg- 

 min'ees, Integminees, Innucellees, and Inovulees. Having no 

 ovules in the pistil, the Inovulees can, of course, have no seeds in 

 the fruit: but it is just as true that the other four minor groups 

 do not. Those which really possess ovules are characterized by 

 a blending of the peripheral layer of the ovule with the inner 



