ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION. 



39 



liantly coloured, and from the simplest to the most 

 grotesque in form ; or sometimes quite deficient of 

 ornamental appendages. On examining any common 

 regular- formed flowers, such as the primrose, convolvulus, 

 phlox, buttercup, strawberry, cherry, apple, &c., they will 

 be found to consist of five distinct parts, which in the 

 different families of plants present great variation in size, 

 form, and relative position to one another. The first is the 

 the outer covering called calyx ; the second the interior 

 part, generally white, or of some brilliant colour, called 

 the corolla, and which to common observers constitutes 

 the true flower. The third interior are thread-like bodies 

 (often very short) in greater or less number, called 

 stamens ; fourth, in the centre, round which the stamens 

 are arranged, are one or more pin -like bodies, generally 

 with a pointed, flat, round, simple, divided, or rayed top, 

 which are called the pistils or pistilla. 



Fifth, on the removal of the calyx, corolla, and sta- 

 mens, the pistil will be seen seated on a round knob, or 

 more or less elevated column called the ovary or germen, 

 which contains rudimentary seeds and becomes the fruit ; 

 it terminates the footstalk of all flowers, which is either 

 a mere point or more or less flat or convex disk called 

 the thalamus or bed. In many cases its apex only is 

 seen, its body being seated below the calyx. The difference 

 of form and number of these appendages, and their rela- 

 tive position to each other, furnish the data upon which 

 the classification of flowering plants into families is 

 founded. It is therefore necessary to describe them in- 

 dividually. 



Calyx. — As already stated, the calyx is the outer 

 covering of the flower ; it varies extremely in size and 

 form, being either small and inconspicuous, or large and 



