FLOWER

in popular language, the blo om of a plant, consisting chiefly of delicate and gaily-coloured leaves or petals; in botany, the organs of reproduction in a phenogam ous plant. A complete flower consists of stamens ond pisiil together with two sets of leaves which surround and protect them, the calyx and cerolia. The stamens and pistiis are the Sepals (5) forming Calyx} “Petals (5): y forming Corolia Stamens 1, Brambie flower. Tlower with petals removed. 2, Blewer from behind. 3, 4, Flower cut through e ential organs of the flower. They cecupy two circles or rows, the one within the other, the stamens being in the outer row. The stamens consist of a stalk or filament supporting a roundish body, the anther, which is filed with a powdery substance called the pollen. The pistil consists of a closed cell or ovary at the base, containing ovulzs, and covered by a style which terminates in the stigma. These organs are surrounded by the corolla and calyx, which together are called the floral envelope, or, when they both display rich colouring, the perianih. The leaves of the corolla are called petals, and those of the calyx sepals. Some flowers want the floral envelope, and are called achlamydeous; others have the calyx but are without the corolla, and are called monochlanydeous. Flowers are generally bisexual, but some plants have unisexual flowers; that is, the pistils are in one flower and the stamens in another. See BOTANY.