96 
PISTIL. 
Anther , is a little knob or box usually situated on the sum- 
mit of the filament, it has cells or cavities which contain a pow- 
der called the pollen ; this is yellow and very conspicuous in 
the lily and tulip. \ ou have here the representation ( Fig. 28) 
of a stamen with its filament (a ;) its 
anther ( b ) and the discharging pol- 
len (c.) In many flowers you will 
perceive the filament to be wanting; 
the anthers are then said to be ses- 
sile ; that is, placed immediately 
upon the corolla ; as at ( d .) which 
represents a flower cut open, and 
its five stamens growing sessile m 
the throat. 
PISTIL. 
In the centre of the flower stands the pistil, an organ essen- 
tial to the plant.' Like the stamens the pistils vary in number 
in different plants, some having but one and others hundreds. 
Linnaeus has founded the orders of his first twelve classes on 
the number of these organs. When they are more than ten, he 
does not rely upon their number, which in this case is found to 
vary in individuals of the same genus. 
The pistil consists of three parts, the germ, style and stigma. 
It may be compared to a pillar ; the germ (Fig. 29 a.) corres- 
ponding to the base; the style ( b ) to 
the shaft ; and the stigma (e) to the 
capital. 
The figure at (g) represents the pis- 
til of the poppy ; the germ or base is 
very large and you will perceive that 
the style is wanting, and the stigma 
is sessile or placed immediately on 
the germ. The style is not an essen- 
tial part, but the stigma and germ are never wanting ; so that 
these two parts, as in the poppy, often constitute a pistil. 
Germ. The germ cont ains the rudiments of the fruit yet in an 
embryo or unformed state. A distinction is to be made between the 
germ here spoken of, hnd the germ of the bud. This germ is 
the future fruit and in passing to the state of the mature fruit, it 
undergoes a very great change. You would scarcely believe 
that the pumpkin is but the germ of the small yellow flower of 
the plant. The germ is said to be superior when placed above 
Fig. 28. 
r ig. £ 
Anther— Pistil, situation and number— Orders founded upon the Pistil— 
Parts of the pistil — Pistil compared to a pillar — Germ — 
