STAMENS AND PISTILS. 
97 
the calyx or corolla : as in the strawberry, inferior when below 
them : as in the apple. The figure of the germ is roundish in 
some plants, cordate and angled in others ; indeed, its forms are 
various, but these you will learn better by observation than de- 
scription. 
Style. This like the filament, is sometimes wanting ; when 
present, it proceeds from the germ, and bears on its summit the 
stigma. It is usually long and slender, of a cylindrical form, 
not generally hollow, but formed by a union of bundles of fibres, 
which transmit from the stigma to the germ the fertilizing pollen. 
Stigma. This word signifies a perfecting. The stigma is the 
top of the pistil, and always present ; if the style be wanting, it 
is placed upon the germ, and said to be sessile, as in the tulip. 
The stigma is various in size and form ; sometimes it is a round 
head ; sometimes hollow and gaping, more especially when the 
flower is in its highest perfection, generally downy, and always 
more or less moist with a peculiar viscid fluid. 
USE OF THE STAMENS AND PISTILS.! 
It has been observed that the stamens and pistils were neces- 
sary to the perfection of the fruit ; we will now explain to you 
the manner in which they conduce to this important object ; as 
you are now acquainted with the different organs and their 
names, you will no doubt easily understand the explanation. 
The pollen, which in most flowers is a kind of yellow dust, is 
thrown out by the bursting of the anther, which takes place in 
a certain stage of the flower. The pollen is very curiously 
formed ; although appearing like little particles of dust, upon 
examining it with a microscope, it is found to be composed of 
innumerable organized corpuscles. These little bodies, though 
usually yellow, are sometimes white, red, blue, &c. In order 
to observe them well, it is necessary to put them upcn water; 
the moisture, by swelling them, renders their true form percep- 
tible. They are oblong in the Umbelliferous plants, globular in 
the Syngenesious, and triangular in seme others. In seme 
their surface is smooth, in others armed with little points. They 
are connected together by minute threads ; as in the honey- 
suckle, &c. These little bodies, thus placed upon water, swell 
with the moisture until they burst ; a liquid matter is then 
thrown out, and, expanding upon the surface of the water, ap- 
pears like a light cloud. 
“ I should never finish,” (says the French botanist,* from 
* Mirbel. 
Style — Stigma — Use of the stamens and pistils — Description of the pollen. 
9 
