410 THE VEGETABLE WORLD.. 
often inflexed. To the petals are opposed four or five stamens, 
with free filaments cohering slightly at the base, having bilocular 
anthers opening from 
within by two longitu- 
dinal clefts, and attached 
dorsally. From the centre 
of the flower rises a free 
ovary, surrounded at the 
base by a glandular disc, 
which is surmounted by a 
simple stigma, sessile and 
flat at the summit. This 
ovary is superior, and two- 
celled, each cell enclosing 
two collateral anatropal 
ovules, ascending from the 
base of the chamber. Each 
of these ovules becomes a 
globular berry, as in Fig. 
409, which contains, when 
it does not prove abortive, 
four seeds or pips. These 
seeds, the shells of which 
are horny, enclose a very 
small embryo, erect in the 
direct axis of a very 
Fig. 408.—Flower of the Vine. abundant fleshy albumen. 
Under the general name of wine is designated the juice of the 
. _ grape when it has been subjected to fermentation, 
and we need not trouble ourselves to express 
here how important the grape harvest becomes 
to many countries. In France nearly five millions 
of acres are planted with vines, and if these pro- 
duce in average years two thousand millions of 
io oh Sc vines of all qualities, it shows that the culture of 
eg ' the Vine is perfectly suited to the temperate 
climate of the country. 
We have already stated that the forests of Mongrelia and the 
