. The natural history of plants. Botany. LAUBAGEM. 441 four trimerous verticils. The three innermost are reduced to sterile scales ; the nine others have flattened petaloid filaments' of variable breadth, and basifixed anthers whose two cells each dehisce by a valve Caasytha Fia. 264. Fiff. 265. Fio. 266. Fig. 267. Fig. 268. Flower (4). Long, section of flower. Diagram. Frnit (i). Long. sect, of fruit. which rises early. Three are superposed to the sepals ; of these the outermost are the largest; they have introrse anthers, lik& the next set which are oppositipetalous and inser
. The natural history of plants. Botany. LAUBAGEM. 441 four trimerous verticils. The three innermost are reduced to sterile scales ; the nine others have flattened petaloid filaments' of variable breadth, and basifixed anthers whose two cells each dehisce by a valve Caasytha Fia. 264. Fiff. 265. Fio. 266. Fig. 267. Fig. 268. Flower (4). Long, section of flower. Diagram. Frnit (i). Long. sect, of fruit. which rises early. Three are superposed to the sepals ; of these the outermost are the largest; they have introrse anthers, lik& the next set which are oppositipetalous and inserted in the lower part of the petals themselves. The stamens of the third whorl are alternipeta- lous ; they possess extrorse anthers, and have two lateral glands at the base of the filament. The free gynseceum resembles that of Laurus; the single anatropous descending ovule has its micropyle turned up- wards and inwards to the placenta, and is inserted a little below the top of the front of the ovary, towards the anterior petal. The fruit is an achene, with a thin pericarp, and contains a seed whose thick fleshy subglobular embryo is exalbuminous' when adult,° After an- thesis the receptacle continues growing in height and thickness, and so covers nearly the whole of the fruit with a continuous fleshy layer or mdusium, by the remains of the perianth and androceum. Cassytha consists of herbs from hot countries, whose slender cylin- drical stems, like those of our Dodders {Cuscuta) fix on by suckers to the adjacent plants whereon they ar^ parasite. Accordingly they have no leaves, or only rudiments thereof, represented by scales or little bracts. The flowers form capitula, spikes, or more rarely racemes. Each flower is axillary to a bract and accompanied by two lateral bractlets. The upper or inner flowers of the inflorescence are ' The filament has two lateral dilatations of the innermost fertile stamens ; they project forming lateral auricles. It is in the notch b
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1871
