68 
STAMENS. 
of a scai,e; in the violet, a process of the same, in the form of a horn or spur; m 
the columbine, in the form of a horn. In the monk's-hood, one of the petals bein^; 
concave, conceals the nectaries ; they are therefore said to be hooded. In the 
honeysuckle, v/e find at the bottom of the tube a nectariferous liquid ; yet there- 
is no appearance of any gland or organ by which it 
could liave been secreted, unless we suppose the tube 
to have performed this office. With respect to the pur 
pose for which honey is secreted by the nectary and 
other parts of the flower, there seems, among authors, 
to be a diiference of opinion. Darwin supposes this to 
be the food with which the stamens and pistils are 
nourished. Smith asserts, that the only use of honey 
with respect to the plant, is to tempt insects, which, in 
procuring it, scatter the dust of the anthers, and fertilize 
the flower, and even carry the pollen from the barren to 
the fertile blossoms; this is particularly the -case in the 
fig-tree. Although in the case of plants whose stamens 
and pistils are on separate flowers, we see this advan- 
tage arising from the fact of insects being attracted by 
the honey, yet the greater number of plants do not need any assistance in convey, 
ing pollen to the stigmas. Some imagine that honey ccntributes to the perfection 
of the stamens : but plants that do not appear to secrete honey have perfect sta- 
mens. One thing, liowever, is certain with respect to this fluid, that without det- 
riment to the plant, it yields to the industrious bee the material for the manufac- 
ture of honey, a luxury highly valued from the most ancient times. Virgil knew 
that bees made honey from the juices which they gathered from flowers ; and we, 
indeed, on this subject, know but little more than he has beautifully exj)ressed in 
his pastorals. 
LECTTJEE XIII. 
STAMENS AND PISTILS. 
76. The stamens cmd pistils o/re^ in all Phcnogamouh plants^ 
indisjwnsable to the perfection of the fruit. They are, m most 
plants, inclosed by the same envelope, or stand on the same 
receptacle ; in the class Moncecia, they a/i'^e on different fiowers 
which spring from one common root / and in Dicecia, they are 
on different flowers^ springi'.cg from different roots. Yet, how- 
ever distant the stamens and pistils may be, nature provides 
ways by which the pollen from the staminate flowers is con- 
veyed to the pistillate, to assist in perfecting the seed. A stamen 
usually consists of two parts, but the filament, or stalk which 
supports the anther, is no more essential to a stamen than a 
petiole is to a leaf. If the stamens be fewer than the pieces, 
either of the calyx or corolla, this is a proof that the true or 
normal number is either abortive or transformed; if they are 
Different .orms of nectaries — Opinions of different writers respecting the secretion of hone jr.-~76. S ar 
mens and pistils necessary to the jjerfection of tlie fruit — a. Facts respecting the star: en. 
