X 
DESCRIPTIONS OF BOTANICAL TERMS 
A stipule is a scale- or leaf-like body situated at the base of the leaf-stalks, or on the 
joints (nodes) of the stem ; when present there are generally two to each leaf. 
A sheath is the flattened and expanded base of the leaf-stalk, which sometimes, as in the 
Persicaria (Polygonum), completely surrounds the stem. 
A flower, when perfect, is composed of four parts, the calyx, corolla, stamens and pistil, 
which are placed together in circles, and usually situated on the top of a flower-stalk {peduncle ) ; 
sometimes, however, they are found placed immediately upon the stem, when they are said 
to be sessile. In the Arum Family the flowers are clustered together round a spike called a 
spadix, and are often surrounded with a coloured bract called a spathe. 
The calyx is the outermost, and consists of a circle of leaf-like parts called sepals 
they are usually green, but sometimes they are brightly coloured, as the petals 
are, and then they are called petaloid ; they may be free from one another or entirely 
or more or less united, and they vary in shape. 
The corolla is inside the calyx and is composed of a circle of leaf-like parts called petals, 
which are usually gaily coloured and of a more delicate consistency than the sepals ; 
they may be free from one another or entirely or more or less united, and they vary 
very much in shape. 
Sometimes the calyx and corolla are not distinguishable from one another, or one or 
other is absent, and the collective term perianth is then used. 
These two circles of organs are the floral leaves which protect the essential organs of the plant. 
They are of no vital use, and all ‘ flowers do not have them. They are for the protection of the 
stamens and pistil, and their beautiful colours and markings are to attract insects which take the 
pollen from one flower to another and so fertilise the plant. 
The stamens come next and consist of a varying number of stalks, called filaments, 
each surmounted with an oblong or rounded case, called an anther, which contains 
the pollen ; sometimes the filaments are long and thread-like, sometimes they are 
united entirely, or more or less, into a sheath surrounding the pistil ; the anthers 
vary in size and shape and may also be free from one another or united together. 
The stamens are the male or fertilising organs. 
The pistil forms the centre of the flower and is composed of one or more carpels which 
may be free from one another, or entirely, or more or less, united together; each 
carpel consists of a seedcase, called the ovary (which contains the ovules or 
unfertilised seeds) ; a stalk-like column, of varying length, called the style, which 
is occasionally absent ; and crowning all a structure varying in shape known as the 
stigma ; when mature the stigma becomes sticky, and to it adhere the grains of 
pollen, brought by insect or wind, which are necessary to fertilise the ovules and so 
develop the seeds. The pistil is the female or fruit-bearing organ. 
In the Orchid Family the stamens and pistil are combined into a column, which is com- 
posed of the seedcase at the base, a prolongation into the usually solitary stamen 
at the top, and the stigma, consisting of a sticky surface, below. The pollen coheres 
into club-shaped masses called pollinia, which are often supported by a stalk which 
is called the caudicle. Sometimes there is a projection, called the rostellum, 
below the anther and above the stigmatic surface. 
A flower is said to be perfect when all the parts are present, as in the Heath or Fox- 
glove, and imperfect when any of the parts are wanting, as in the Spurge or Crowberry. It is said to 
