Botany for Ladies: or, A Popular Introduction to the Natural System of Plants, According to the Classification of De Candolle.Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Science
Botany for Ladies: or, A Popular Introduction to the Natural System of Plants, According to the Classification of De Candolle.
Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Botany; Plants -- Classification
All the numerous plants which compose this large order agree more or
less with the rose in the construction of their flowers, though they
differ widely in the appearance of their fruit. They all agree in
having the receptacle dilated, so as to form a lining to the lower part
of the calyx, and in the upper part of this lining the stamens and
petals are inserted above the ovary; and the anthers are innate, that
is, the filament is inserted only in the lower part. The leaves also
have generally large and conspicuous stipules; and they are frequently
compound, that is, composed of several pairs of leaflets, placed
exactly opposite to each other; though the leaves themselves are never
opposite to each other, but are placed alternately on the main stem.
These characters are common to the order; but the plants included in
it differ from each other so much in other respects, that it has been
found necessary to redivide Rosaceæ into tribes, of which the following
six contain plants common in British gardens.
TRIBE I.—ROSEÆ.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.—ROSA FOSTERI.]
[Illustration: FIG. 21.—OVARY OF THE AYRSHIRE ROSE WITH A DETACHED
SEED.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.—RIPE FRUIT AND DETACHED SEED OF A ROSE.]
The flowers of the wild Rose have the lower part of the calyx tubular
and fleshy (from being lined with the dilated receptacle) and the upper
part divided into five leafy sepals, which enfold the bud, and remain
on after the expansion of the corolla. In _Rosa Fosteri_, (see _fig._
20,) and its near ally the Dog rose (_R. canina_), the sepals (_a_)
do not extend far beyond the petals of the bud; but in some species,
as in _Rosa cinnamonea_ and its allies, the sepals are so large and
long, that they assume the character of little leaves, The corolla is
cup-shaped, and it is composed of five equal petals, each of which is
more or less indented in the margin, as shown at _b_. In the centre
of the flower the receptacle forms a kind of disk which completely
fills the opening or throat of the calyx; in most species covering the
carpels and their styles and only leaving the stigmas free, though
in the Ayrshire rose (_R. arvensis_), and its allies, the styles are
united, so as to form a column, which projects considerably above the
disk (see _fig._ 21). The pitcher-shaped part of the calyx when the
corolla falls becomes the hip (_fig._ 20 _c_), and serves as a covering
or false pericarp to the numerous bony carpels or nuts which contain
the seed. These nuts are each enveloped in a hairy cover (see _fig._ 20
_d_, and _fig._ 21 _a_,) and each contains only one seed which it does
not open naturally to discharge: hence, the seeds of roses when sown
are a long time before they come up. _Fig._ 22 is the ripe fruit of
_Rosa cinnamonea_, cut in two to show the nuts. The leaves are pinnate,
consisting of two or more pairs of leaflets, and ending with an odd
one. The leaves are furnished with very large stipules (see _fig._ 20
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