40 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



often highly coloured, as in the fuchsia. It is either 

 perfect or iroperfect, sometimes entirely wanting, its place 

 heing then represented hy scales or hracts, as in the 

 walnut and poplar. When perfect, it consists of one, two, 

 or many separate pieces, each piece heing called a sepal ; 

 therefore when of one piece it is monosepalous, when of 

 two or more, polysepalo2is. When monosepalous it is 

 in the form of a tuhe, or inflated like a goblet, or its 

 mouth is wide and spreading like a cup or open dish ; or 

 it is even flat like a disk, as in the pretty greenhouse 

 creeper Mhodochiton. Its margin or rim is either entire, 

 equally or unequally notched, toothed, or deeply cleft. 



the divisions being called lacince. Common examples of 

 these forms are to be seen in the primrose, clove, catch- 

 fly, and potato. 



The strawberry, geranium, and ranunculus are ex- 

 amples of polysepalous calyx. The lacinse and sepals 

 are either equal in form and size, as in the strawberry, 

 or very unequal, as in the pea family. 



In a genus of tropical shrubs called Musscenda, the 

 calyx is five-parted, four of these parts being very small, 

 like dents, and of a green colour, while the fifth is large, 

 nearly round, one to two inches in diameter, of a pure 



