SECTARY. 
the sustenance of the anthers and stigmas, and for the purpose of 
secreting honey. 
Saint Pierre* thinks the corolla is intended to collect the rays of 
the sun, and to reflect them upon the stamens and pistils which are 
placed in the centre or focus. 
After all our inquiries into the uses of the corolla, we are obliged 
to acknowledge that it appears less important, in the economy of 
vegetation, than many less showy organs. It seems chiefly design¬ 
ed to beautify and enliven creation by the variety and elegance of 
its forms, the brilliancy of its colouring, and the sweetness of its 
perfume. 
MM MM , Nectary. 
In many flowers there is an organ called the nectary , which secretes 
a peculiar fluid, the honey of the plant; this fluid constitutes the prin¬ 
cipal food of bees and various other species of insects. 
Linnaeus considered the nectary as a separate organ from the 
corolla; and every part of the flower which was neither stamen, 
pistil, calyx, nor corolla, he called a nectary; 
but he undoubtedly applied the term too exten¬ 
sively and vaguely. The nectary is not to be 
conflned to any particular part of the flower. 
.Sometimes it is a mere cavity , as in the lily. 
The croVn imperial, Fig. 79, exhibits in the 
claw of each of its petals a nectary of this kind; 
each one being filled with a sweet liquid, the 
secretion of the flower. If these drops are re¬ 
moved, others immediately take their place. 
The six nectariferous glands at the base of the 
corolla are represented in the figure ; the petals 
are supposed to be cut in order to show the 
base of the flower. 
In the Ranunculus, (Butter-cup,) the nectary is a production of the 
corolla in the form of a scale ; in the violet, a process of the same, 
in the form of a horn or spur. In the Columbine, (Aquilegia,) the nec¬ 
tary is a separate organ from the petals, in the form of a horn . In 
the monk’s-hood, one of the petals being concave, conceals the nec¬ 
taries ; they a*re therefore said to be hooded , 
In monopetalous corollas, the tube is supposed to answer the pur¬ 
pose of a nectary in secreting honey. In the honeysuckle, we find 
at the bottom of the tube a nectariferous liquid ; yet there is no ap¬ 
pearance of any gland or organ, by which it could have been se¬ 
creted, unless we suppose the tube to have performed this office. 
With respect to the purpose for which honey is secreted by the 
nectary and other parts of the flower, there seems, among authors, 
to be a difference of opinion. Darwin supposes this to be the food 
with which the stamens and pistils are nourished, or the unripe seeds 
perfected. Smith asserts, that the only use of honey, with respect to 
the plant, is to tempt insects, which, in procuring it, scatter the dust 
of the anthers, and fertilize the flower, and even carry the pollen 
from the barren to the fertile blossoms ; this is particularly the case 
* This ingenious author remarks, that man seems the only animal sensible to the 
sweet impressions made by the colour and odour of plants upon the senses,; but we 
think he has asserted too much. Do not the brute creation seem to enjoy, by the 
sense of smelling, the freshness of the verdant fields? But man is very apt to say^ 
“ See all things for my use.” 
St. Pierre’s theory—Nectary—Its use—Not always a separate organ—Nectary of die 
crown imperial—Different forms of nectaries—Opinions of different writers jresAewhw 
their use. 
7 
