06 
CALYX, 
lightful to every lover of nature ; a bouquet, or even the simplest 
blossom, presented by a friend, interests the heart. How many 
pleasant thoughts are awakened by the fresh and perfumed incense 
which ascends from flowers ! — their odour has been poetically term- 
ed, the language by which they hold communion with our minds. 
Females are usually fond of flowers ; but until recently, the gTeater 
number have only viewed them as beautiful objects, delighting the 
senses by their odour and fragrance, without being aware that they, 
lovely as they seemed, might be rendered doubly interesting, by a 
scientific knowledge of the relations and uses of their various parts. 
Even at the present period, there are those who spend years in cul- 
tivating plants, ignorant of their botanical characters, when a few 
hours study might unfold to them the beautifUl arrangement of Lin- 
naeus, and open to their mental vision a world of wonders. 
Although every part of a plant offers an interesting subject for 
study, the beauty of the blossom seems, by association, to heighten 
the pleasure of scientific research. Flowers are indeed lovely, but 
like youth and beauty they are fading and transient; they are, how- 
ever, destined for a higher object than a short-lived admiration; for, 
^o them is assigned the important office of producing and nourishing 
, the fruit ; like them should the young improve the bloom of life, so 
that when youth and beauty shall fade away, their minds may exhibit 
that fruit, which it is the business of youth to nurture and mature. 
Calyx. 
The calyx is frequently wanting ; as in the lily and tulip. The 
corolla is also wanting in many plants ; as, in most of the forest 
trees, which, to a careful observer, may seem to produce no flower ; 
but the presence of a stamen and pistil, is in botany considered as 
constituting a 'perfect Jiower. These two organs are essential to the 
perfection of the fruit ; and when a flower is destitute either of sta- 
mens or pistils, it is termed imperfect, A flower is said to be incom- 
plete when any of the seven organs of fructification are wanting. 
The word calyx is derived from the Greek, and literally signifies 
a cup ; it is the outer cover of the corolla, and usually green ; when 
not green, it is said to be coloured. This organ is an expanr^ion of 
the bark of the flower-stalk, as appears from its colour and texture. 
The calyx usually envelops the corolla, previous to its expansion, 
and afterward remains below or around its base. Sometimes the 
calyx consists of one leaf or sepal only, it is then called monosepal- 
ous ; when it consists of several distinct leaves, it is called polys c- 
palous ; when one calyx is surrounded by another, it is double ; 
when one calyx belongs to many flowers, it is common. 
In the calyx are three parts, very distinct in calyxes . which are 
long and cylindric ; these are, 1st, the tube which rises from the base ; 
2d, the throat, above the tube ; and 3d, the mouth, or the upper and 
expanded pai^t; the tube of the calyx is cylindric in the pink, and 
prismatic in the stramonium. 
The position of the calyx with respect to the germ > offers an im- 
portant mark of distinction between different genera, and also be- 
tween different natural families of plants. The calyx is said to be 
superior when it is situated on the summit of the germ, as in the 
apple ; it is inferior, when situated below the germ, as in the pink. 
In many plants the calyx is neither superior nor inferior, but is situ- 
ated around the germ. 
Flowers delightful— Many who cuhivate them ignorant of their botanical charac- 
ters—Flowers analogous to youth— Calyx, sometimes wanting— Description of the 
calyx— Parts of the calyx— Position with respect to the germ. 
