discharge their pollen varies considerably, some affording it exit by pores, others by valves, &c.; but the most general mode of opening is by what is called the suture, or line of opening, which may be traced, by a little examination, in many anthers. An exception to the ordinary form of stamen we find in the family of the orchis. If you take an orchis flower-Fig. 56-to examine for the first time, you will have some difficulty in finding the stamens at all. Our illustration will help you. Mark the point corresponding to that marked 1 in the figure, and there you will find two little pouches, each

V

56. Blossom of an Orchis, consisting of a perianth composed of

six pieces, the lowest bearing a

spur-4. The pouches containing

the pollen masses-1. A spot cor

responding to the stigma-2. The twisted ovary or seed-vessel-3 supporting the flower with a bract -6-at its attachment to the com

of which contains a waxy looking stamen, or pollen mass, of the form represented-Fig. 56, 5. If you are a young botanist, and getting enthusiastic, you will be highly delighted with the novelty of poking out, with the aid of a needle, these little organs from their snug concealment. To the careless, these seem trifles; indeed they cannot appreciate the pleasure which the real lover of natural science each step

mon flower-stalk-7. The pollen experiences, as

masses magnified-5.

leads him on to fresh

discoveries of design, ever varied in its beautiful adaptations.

THE PISTIL.

We have now reached the centre of the flower, or rather the important organ, the pistil, which occupies the centre, and has for its office the development and maturation of the fruit or seed. As in the stamen we found filament and anther, so in the pistil we find-Figs. 57, 58, 59-1-The

these two parts, we find a third-3-the ovary, or

seed-vessel; the receptacle of the young seeds, or ovules, as they are named before they have been subjected to the fertilizing influence of the pollen. The pistil, then, usually consists of ovary, style, and stigma; usually we say, for the style is not always present. As an example, in the common poppy, the stigma-Fig. 60, 2-is close upon-sessile upon the top of the seed-vessel. Contrast this with the long thread-like style of the common crocus -Fig. 58—and you will easily comprehend how many variations in the form of this part of the pistil you must meet with in your botanical investigations. Very varied, too, will you find the stigma; at times scarcely to be distinguished from the supporting style, whilst in some plants it is extremely well marked. The campanulas offer us the stigma in three divisions-Fig. 57-and the crocus has likewise a trifid stigma-Fig. 58-but of a different form. In the willow herbs the part is four-cleft, in the primrose it is a little knob, which makes the style and stigma combined bear a resemblance to a common pin. As already adverted to, the stigma, or rather stigmas in the poppy are radiated or star-like; in the grasses and some other plants the organ is often feathery. One special peculiarity of the stigma-only, however, to be discovered by close observation-is the absence of the skin or epidermis, which covers every other part of the plant, its place being supplied by a sticky covering, to which the grains of pollen adhere as they fall from the anther. From these pollen grains, whatever be the length of the style, the fertilizing influence must be transmitted to the ovules, if the

seeds and seed-vessel are to attain maturity, if the former are to possess the capability of continuing the succession of their being. After the pollen of the anther has been ripened and shed upon the stigma, the office of the blossom is over, it withers and dies; or rather we should say, after time has been given for the process of fertilization, the blossom withers. If that process has been perfected, as the flower disappears, the seed-vessel and its contents become more conspicuous as they verge towards the maturity of the perfect fruit: but if no fertilization has taken place, the abortive seed falls with the withering blossom; the hopes of all who till the ground, of the cultivator of the rich fruits of the garden, or of the grains that furnish man with bread, must alike be disappointed, should anything interfere with this most important process of pollen fertilization.

Knowing this, we may cease to wonder at the various provisions made by Creative Wisdom for securing the fulfilment of this all-important effect. These provisions are more especially manifest when, as we frequently find them, the stamens and pistils, instead of being developed in the same blossom, or on the same part of the plant, are separated, or when they are the productions of different plants of the same species. We cannot doubt that the abundant production of the pollen is specially designed to render as free from hazard as possible the fertilization of the seed; and equally certain is it, that the bees, and insects generally, are most active agents in the conveyance of this precious powder to its special destination. It is supposed that the peculiar resemblance which the blossoms of some of the

orchis tribe bear to certain insects, is for the purpose of attracting the insects imitated, and thus of securing their agency in the distribution of the peculiarly placed but very adhesive pollen masses of these flowers. Of plants which have their stamens and pistils developed on different blossoms in the same plant, many of our trees furnish instances. Such we find to be the case with the oak, the hazel, the beech, the alder, the box, &c. But we also find the same arrangement prevailing among such smaller plants as the sedges-Fig. 111—the nettle, the arum, or cuckoo pint-Fig. 82, &c. Of those which bear their stamens and pistils on different individuals of the same species, the willows are the most important; the hop, the yew-tree, the poplar, and others, fall under the same category. Notices of many of these are scattered throughout our wild flowers of the months. Of course, a blossom or a tree, which bears only stamens, produces no fruit— it is barren-hence, by botanists, such blossoms or trees are called the male or barren flower or plant; the pistil, or seed-bearing, being called the female.

We have spoken of the style and stigma, as if always but one simple pistil belonged to each blossom. This, as in the pea tribe and others, is often the case; but in many plants, such as those belonging to the ranunculus tribe, as for instance, in the columbine-Fig. 62-and others, there are a number of distinct pistils, or carpels, as they are often called, aggregated in the centre of the blossom, each of course having a distinct style and stigma. In Fig. 61, the withered styles are seen still adhering to the summits of the carpels. In other cases we