Page:Favourite flowers of garden and greenhouse-Vol 1.djvu/16

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(the classical name), a genus of about fifty species, widely distributed in the temperate and colder regions of the Northern Hemisphere; three species being British. They are perennial herbs distinguished by their graceful much-divided {compound) leaves, with stipules, the absence of petals, and the great development of the stamens in proportion to the size of the four or five sepals. The carpels each contain a single ovule, and develop into a miniature nut, called an achene; a number of these gathered into a head constitute the fruit. The flower-cluster is a panicle or raceme. It is to the great number and large size of the stamens that the feathery appearance of the flower-cluster is due in certain species. As the pollen is shed it is borne by the wind to the stigmas of other flowers, and this method of fertilisation explains why the sepals are not showy, and why the flower produces no honey. The stigmas come to maturity before the anthers shed their pollen, so that self-fertilisation is not likely to occur.