CHAP. II. 
STAMENS. 
145 
Next the petals, in the inside, are seated the organs called 
Stamens — the Apices of old botanists. These constitute the 
Androeceum or male apparatus of the flower, like the calyx and 
corolla are modifications of leaves, and consist of the filament^ 
the anther^ and the pollen^ of which the two latter are essential : 
the first is not essential ; that is to say, a stamen may exist 
without a filament, but it cannot exist without an anther and 
pollen. All bodies, therefore, which resemble stamens, or 
which occupy their place, but which are destitute of anther, 
are either petals, or appendages of the petals, or abortive 
stamens. 
As the petals are naturally alternate with the sepals, so the 
natural station of the stamens, if of equal number with the 
petals, is alternately with them ; and all deviations from diis 
law are to be understood as irregularities arising from the 
suppression or addition of parts. Thus, when in the Primrose 
we find the stamens opposite the segments of the corolla, 
and equal to them in number, it is to be supposed that those 
stamens which are present constitute the second of two rows 
of which the exterior is not developed ; and when in Silene 
we find the stamens ten, while the petals are five, the former 
are to be considered to consist of two rows, although appear- 
ing to consist of one. This may be understood by examining 
Oxalis, in which the stamens are all apparently in one row, 
but are alternately of different lengths. When the number 
of stamens exceeds twice that of the petals, they will still 
be divisible by the number of which they were at first a 
ijiultiple, until their number is excessively increased, when 
they seem to cease to bear any kind of proportion to the 
petals. 
The stamens always originate from the space between the 
base of the petals and the base of the ovary. But botanists 
are nevertheless in the habit of saying that they are inserted 
into the calyx or corolla ^Jig. 120.) {jperigynous)^ or under the 
pistil (^^.118.) {hypogynous), or into the pistil (Jig. 119.) 
(epigynous), all expressions inaccurate and leading to erroneous 
notions of structure. The student, therefore, must understand, 
that when in the Primrose the stamens are said to be inserted 
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