THE FLOWER. 
117 
petals. Count tlie stamens. Observe the two-lobed 
stigma of the pistil. Has each of the floral whorls the 
same number of parts ? Then it is a symmetrical 
Fig. 200. Fig. 201. 
Binary Symmetry. 
flower. And it would still be symmetrical if the 
number of sepals, or petals, or stamens, or carpels, 
were twice as many, three times as many, and so on. 
Count the parts in the floral whorls of Fig. 201. 
Fig. 202. Fig. 203. 
It has three sepals, you say, and three petals ; but there 
are six stamens and six carpels. Is this flower sym¬ 
metrical ? 
A symmetrical flower is one having the same num¬ 
ber of parts in each of its whorls, or, if not the same, 
then twice as many, three times as many, or any mul¬ 
tiple of the prevailing number. 
