FLOWERS : THEIR FORMS AND KINDS. 
71 
210. An Irregular Flower ; that is, one in which all the parts of the same sort are 
not alike. For in the Larkspur-blossom one of the sepals bears a long hollow 
spur or tail behind, which the four others have not; and the four small petals are 
of two sorts. The Violet-blossom (Fig. 173) and the Pea-blossom (Fig. 351) are 
symmetrical (except as to the pistil), but irregular. Fig. 174 shows the calyx 
and the corolla of the Violet above it displayed; s, the five sepals; p , the five petals. 
One of the latter differs from the rest, having a sac or spur at the base, which makes 
the blossom irregular. So far, most of the examples in this section are from 
211. Flowers with the parts all distinct, that is, of separate pieces; — the calyx 
of distinct sepals , the corolla of distinct petals (i. e. Polypetalous ), the stamens dis¬ 
tinct (separate, &c.), and all the parts growing in regular order out of the receptacle, 
in other words, inserted on the receptacle. These are the simplest or most natural 
flowers, the parts answering to so many leaves on a 
short branch. But as in Honeysuckles (Fig. 389) the 
leaves of the same pair are often found grown together 
into one, so in blossom-leaves, there are plenty of 
212. Flowers with their parts united or grown together. 
The flower of Morning- 
^ i»rc 
Glory (Fig. 4) is a good 
example. Here is the ca¬ 
lyx of five separate leaves 
or sepals (Fig. 176) ; but 
in the corolla (Fig. 175) 
the five petals are com¬ 
pletely united into a cup, 
just as the upper leaves 
of Honeysuckles are into 
a round plate. Then, in 
Stramonium (Fig. 177), 
the five sepals also are 
united or grown together 
almost to their tips into a 
cup or tube; and so are the five petals likewise, but not quite to their tips ; and the 
five teeth or lobes (both of the calyx and of the corolla) plainly show how many 
leaves there really are in each set. When this is so in the corolla, it forms what is 
called a 
176 
Morning-Glory. 
