20 CLASS-BOOK OF BOTANY. 
for stipules, as beginners are very apt todo. Remember that 
stipules are almost always produced wm pairs, one on each side 
of the base of the petiole.) The leaves of Pansy are simple, 
ovate in form, with obtuse* (blunt or rounded) apex. The 
margin is notched into a few rounded teeth, and is therefore 
said to be crenate.| The stipules are like one-sided leaves 
with pinnatifid margins. 
The flowers are arranged singly on long 4-angled pedicels, 
which spring from the axils of the upper leaves ; hence the 
inflorescence is called solitary and axillary. You will gee 
about three-fourths up the pedicel two small scale-like bracts; 
these are very characteristic of the violet tribe. The top of the 
. pedicel is curved nearly at right. angles, so as to bring the 
flower into such a position that insects may easily alight on 
it. The flower is said to be irregular, because its petals are 
variously shaped. Note the 9 aposepalous inferior sepals, 
attached not by their base, but somewhere below their middle, 
so that each appears to be produced backwards into a nearly 
square lobe. They overlap one another, hence their estiva- 
tion (or mode of folding in the bud) is called imbricate ; } 
and, as they do not wither and fall away when the rest of the 
flower withers, but remain attached to the fruit, they are said 
to be persistent. 
Note that the 5 petals are apopetalous and hypogynous, 
and that they also are imbricate, the lowest or front petal 
being the innermost, and one of those on the back the outer- 
most. You will see that the lowest petal is produced back- 
wards into a short spur, which projects between two of the 
sepals. This inferior petal and the one on each side of it 
usually have strongly-marked lines of colour converging 
towards the centre, and these probably serve to direct insects 
to the spur, which acts as the nectary of the flower. This 
flower—like the wallflower—is sweetly scented, and this 
fragrance constitutes a further attraction to insects, in addition 
to the bright colour of the petals, and the nectar which is 
probably present in the spur. 
In order to make out the character of the staminal whorl, 
it is advisable not only to remove the sepals and petals from 
one flower, but also to make a longitudinal section through 
another, taking care to divide the spur of the lower petal into 
two. Note the 5 stamens, carefully removing each with a 
needle. They are all separate from one another (pentan- 
drous = five free stamens), and hypogynousin adhesion. Their 
filaments are so short and broad that the anthers are almost 
* Lat. obfusus, blunt, 
+ Lat. erena, a notch. 
t Lat. imbricatus, from imbrex, a tile. 
