Familiar lectures on botany, practical, elementary, and physiological : with an appendix containing descriptions of the plants of the United States and exotics, &c., for the use of seminaries and private students / by Almira H. Lincoln.
- Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps
- Date:
- 1836
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Familiar lectures on botany, practical, elementary, and physiological : with an appendix containing descriptions of the plants of the United States and exotics, &c., for the use of seminaries and private students / by Almira H. Lincoln. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![C7 When the calyx drops off before the flower fully expands, it is called caducous; the petals of the poppy are, at first, enclosed in a calyx of two large green leaves, but these fall oft before the flower is full blown. When the calyx withers and drops off with the corolla, it is called deciduous. In many plants it remains until the fruit is matured; it is then called persistent. Upon a pea-pod, fof*example, the calyx may be seen as perfect as it was in the blossom. On ex- amining an apple or pear, the dried leaves of the calyx maybe seen on the top of the fruit; this shows that the calyx was superior, as well as persistent. According to the divisions of Linnaeue,. there are seven kinds of calyxes; viz. Perianth, Involucrum, Ament, Spatha, Glume, Calyptra, Vulva. Perianth. This term is derived from the two Greek words, peri, around, and anthos, flower. This is the only real calyx or cup, as the term cup does not properly apply to the other kinds. A good example of the perianth calyx is presented in the rose, where it is «7*n-form, with divisions at the top resembling small leaves. In the pink, the perianth is long and tubular, having the border dentate or toothed. The holly-hock, hibiscus, and many other plants, have a double perianth. The term perianth is often used when a flower has but one envelope, as in the tulip ; and more especially in cases where it is difficult to determine whether this envelope should be called a corolla or calyx. Involucrum. This term is derived from the Latin, involvo, to wrap up ; this kind of calyx is usually found at the base of an umbel, as in the carrot. It is said to be universal, when it belongs equally to. the whole of an aggregate flower; and partial,* when it encloses one floret which, with others, constitutes a compound or aggregate flower. The term involucrum is also applied to the membranous covering in the fructification of ferns. Ament or catkin,\ is a kind of calyx, by some classed as a mode of inflorescence; it consists of many chaffy scales, ranged along a thread-like stalk or receptacle; each scale protects one or more of the stamens or pistils, the whole forming one aggregate flower. The ament is common to forest trees, as the oak and chestnut; and is also found upon the willow and poplar. In some trees, the staminate flowers are enclosed in an ament, and the pistillate in a perianth. Spatha, or sheath. It is that kind of calyx which first encloses the flower, and when this expands, bursts length- \\«k <<g / wise and often appears at some dis- «fl Aft? ^TJpvTjk J tance below it. The wild turnip, or fifi \%l p\ ]^§&\^ ^^% M ^rum) furnishes an example of this Hr rS''! i 11 ( vv ink C kind of calyx, enclosing a kind of inflo- PIt'1 W\ /^^-gs^'^i rescence called a spadix, (Fig. 67. a.) mlliifU ' MNiJ^T /ffv^';/ From the peculiar appearance of the Will'lW >' \w spadix as it stands up surrounded by the spatha, it is sometimes called Jack- in-the-box. The spatha is common in many of our cultivated exotics, as in the Narcissus, where it appears brown- ish and withered, after the full expan- sion of the flower. You see here a re- * See Fig. 128, a, a. t See Fig. 91. Duration—Different kinds of calyxes—Perianth---Involucrum—Ament—Spathj](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21147267_0067.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
