THE FLOWER a 80 
The simplest form of gynecium usually consists of : a ) an 
ovary, (2) a style, (3) a stigma 
or stigmas. 
* If three foliage leaves are 
sewn together, as described 
above, it will be seen that 
there are three apices or ends ; 
these represent the extreme 
tips of the carpels, called 
stigmas, which are connected 
with the ovary by short stalks 
or styles. The styles may 
remain free, as in the Cam- 

: : Fig. 38.—TRANSVERSE SECTION 
pions ; or they may be united or Ovary OF FoxGLove. 
up to the top, the stigmas c, carpels; p, placenta; 0, 
ovules, 
being distinct, as in the dead- 
nettle and dandelion, where, although the styles are united, 
two stigmas are plainly seen. The number of styles or 
stigmas should always be noticed, as it is a help in deter- 
mining the number of carpels. The 
surface of the stigma is often sticky, 
as in Orchids, or it may be covered 
with hairs, which help to keep the 
grains of pollen placed on the stigma. 
The edge of the carpel which bears 
the ovules is the placenta, and the mode 
of arrangement of these placentas 1s 
Fig, 89. — TRANSVERSE town as placentation. In the violet 
SECTION OF OVARY OF P , 
_ PRIMROSE. the ovules are borne by the walls of the 
6 oa gegen i neeihs ovary, for the margins of the carpels 
have not bent inwards; the placentation 
is then said to be parietal (Lat. paries, a wall). (Fig. 36.) When 
the edges of the carpels bend in and meet in the centre, so 
that the ovules arise from a placenta in the centre, as in the 
foxglove (Fig. 38), the placentation is azile. (See also Vig. 35.) 
These are the two main types of placentation, but there are 
modifications. The ovary of a primrose, when cut across, 

