122 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



and in the Fuchsia flower seen cut down lengthwise 

 (Figs. 75, 76). These figures are sufficient to ex- 

 emplify the general nature of the stamens and pistils. 

 Their form and arrangement differ from flower to 

 flower, but the essentials remain with little or no 

 change. Thus in the Orchids we have a compli- 

 cated and elaborate arrangement, in the Lilies we 

 have a "flower" of six pieces outside the stamens 

 and pistils, in the Foxglove a sleeve-shaped flower, 

 "while in the Willow (Figs. 77, 78) we have simply 



Pistil of the Fig. 72.— Pistil of 



Lily, witli Chinese Primula, 



ovary, style with ovary, style 



and stigma. and stigma. 



Pig. 74.— Stamens 



one tiny scale from whose axil ,5^,,?^^"^ 



; . Wallflovi'er. 

 ■proceed, m some cases, two or 



three stamens, and in other 



instances one pistil without any stamens. Such cases 

 are illustrations of very simple flowers, though from 

 the fact of their being aggregated together they ap- 

 3)ear more complicated, or rather the whole mass- of 

 flowers, "the inflorescence," is commonly taken for 

 the flower. In the case of the Willow and Poplar the 

 -stamen-bearing flowers (Fig. 79) are on one plant, 

 the pistil-bearing flowers on another (Fig. 80). In 

 the Hazel-nut, or Melon, stamen-bearing flowers and 

 pistil-bearing flowers are on the same plant. In 

 many cases the flowers contain within the same 

 envelopes both male and female organs, as in the 



Lily, although it by no means follows that the pollen 

 of these so-called " hermaphrodite " flowei's really 

 fertilises the germs in the pistil of the same flower. 

 Very frequentlj', in order to secure adequate fertility 

 and robust seedlings, the pollen from one flower lias 

 to be conveyed to the stigma of quite a different 

 flower, but one of the same species, and although 

 close fertilisation may in some cases be the rule, yet 

 an occasional cross is found to be advantageous 

 in maintaining the health of the seedlings. In 



Fig. 76. — Section of Flower 

 of the Fuchsia, showing 

 ovary and ovules, tubular 

 calyx ending ia sepals re- 

 flexed, two petals, stamens 

 and style. 



cases like that of the Willow this is an obvious 

 necessity, as the pollen is on one plant, the pistil on 

 another. But the same thing is equally marked, 

 though perhaps lesG obvious, in other cases; for 

 instance, the ''blindness," as gardeners call it, of 

 strawberries is due to the fact that the pollen and 

 the stigma are not ripe and do not mature at the 

 same time, and hence, although both may be present 

 in the same flower, yet, as the one is ready and the 

 other is not, no fruit is formed and the flower be- 

 comes " blind." But if the pollen could be con- 

 veyed from the one flower to another where the 

 stigma was developed, fertilisation would ensue. 

 The " setting " of Grapes depends on like causes ; if 

 the pollen and stigma are both ripe at the same 



