72 
PISTILS. 
theoiy that pistils are transformed leaves, every thing relating 
to their form, situation, and structure, may be readily explain- 
ed. The normal number of pistils is supposed to be the same 
as of each row of stamens, petals, &c., but pistils are more 
liable to have their original number lessened than any othei 
organs of the flower ; yet when a pistil seems solitary it will 
often be found that there are several cohering pistils, as in the 
lily, where three united pistils form one. The stigma is desti- 
tute of cuticle, and is the only organ of the plant in which this 
is wanting, except the spongioles of the root. The stigma com- 
municates directly with the tissue of the pistil, and is in the 
living plant always moist or viscid. The ovules are attached 
to that line which represents the cohering margins of the leaf, 
and rest upon the seam or midrib. Thoi placenta is a projec- 
tion or point to which the ovules are attached. That part of 
the carpel where the placenta is formed is the inner or ventral 
sutv/re^ corresponding to the margin of the folded carpellary 
leaf^ while the outer or dorsal suture corresponds to the midrib 
of the carpellary leaf The pistil is essential to the continued 
existence of the plant; it varies in number in different plants, 
some having but one pistil, and others hundreds. Linnaeus 
founded the orders of his first twelve classes on the number of 
these organs. When they are more than ten he did not rely 
upon their number, which in this case is found to vary in indi- 
viduals of the same genus. The pistil usually consists of three 
parts — the germ (or ovary), stR/le^ and stigma. The ovary (Fig. 
86, a) corresponding to the base of a pillar, the style (h) to th ^ 
shaft, and the stigma {e) to the capital. 
Fig. 88, g, represents the pistil of the poppy ; the 
ovary is very large, the style is wanting, the stigma 
sessile, or placed immediately on the ovary. The 
style is not an essential part, but the stigma and 
ovary are never wanting ; so that these two parts, 
as in the poppy, often constitute a pistil. 
Ovary (or germ") is the inflated por- 
tion of the carpel (Fig. 86, g^ which con- 
tains the ovules, or young seeds. In pass- 
ing to maturity this organ undergoes a great change, as from 
the ovary of a small yellow blossom is formed the pumpkin 
and watermelon. When a pistil consists of a single carpel it is 
simple, and the terms pistil and carpel are then synonymous ; 
several carpels united form a compound pistil and compound 
ovary. The ovary is said to be superior when placed above the 
calyx, as in the strawberry ; inferior when below it, as in the 
apple. The figure of the ovary is roundish in some plants, 
cordate or angled in others. The style like the filament is 
Fig. 86. 
Ovary — Style. 
