52 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



of one or of more carpels, each carpel in its com- 

 plete condition consisting of an ovary or lower 

 portion, which is a hollow case from and within 

 which the ovules originate. The ovary is fre- 

 quently prolonged upwards into a little shaft 

 called the style, at or near the top of which is a 

 little space devoid of 

 epidermis, and generally 



1. Cobaa scandens. 2. Pinus Pumili<>. :i. Paanflorakermesina. 4. Circ&a 

 alpina. 5. Nymphaa alba 6, EpHdbivm anguetifolwm. 7. Cucur- 



bit a Pei>o. 8. H ibiscus ternahu 



secreting a little mucous fluid — this is the stigma. 

 Where there is no style the stigma is said to he 

 " sessile ". 



The carpels, whether solitary, as in the Pea, 

 or in groups, are either entirely free, as in the 

 Buttercup; or more or less inseparate one from 

 the other or from the other parts of the flower, 

 just as is the case with the stamens; or they 

 may be inclosed within, or even embedded in, 

 the substance of the thalamus, as in the case 

 of the Cucumber. When the ovary is free it 

 is spoken of as superior, but when inseparate 

 from the calyx, so that the calyx appears to 

 be at the top of the ovary, the term inferior is 

 made use of. Superior and inferior here refer 

 to the apparent relative position of the ovary 



and the other parts of the flower. Originally 

 the ovary, as being the last formed, is always 

 above the other parts of the flower, but the real 

 position is often obscured by adhesions, by con- 

 crescence or inseparation, or by the development 

 of the thalamus in the form of a cup or tube 

 at the bottom of which the ovary is placed, as 

 in the Plum or Cherry. Sometimes the tube of 

 the receptacle and the walls of the ovary are 

 concrescent, so that the two organs become in- 

 separable, as in the Melon or Cucumber. 



When several carpels are coherent by their 

 edges ( "sutures"), or by their infolded sides, the 

 ovary is spoken of as "compound", and when 

 cut across it shows as many compartments as 

 there are ovaries, the compartments being separ- 

 ated by the infolded sides of the ovaries, which 

 are now called dissepiments. But when the edges 

 of the carpels unite without being infolded, we 



Fig. 64— Flower of Cistus : Sepals and Petals removed. The Stamens are 

 hypogynous, and some of them have their Anthers in contact with 

 the Stigma. The Pollen-tubes are shown passing down the Style and 

 entering the Ovules. 



may get a compound ovary with but a single 

 cavity. In such cases we are generally able to 

 ascertain the number of the constituent carpels 

 by counting the styles or stigmas, which are 

 rarely so completely blended as the ovaries, 



6. The Ovules. — The ovules are the immature 

 seeds, formed as projections from the walls or 

 edges of the ovaries, the special portion from 



