[§ 2.] GYMNOSPERMOUS GYNŒCIUM.
[313.] The ordinary pistil has a closed ovary, and accordingly the pollen can act upon the contained ovules only indirectly, through the stigma. This is expressed in a term of Greek derivation, viz.:—
Angiospermous, meaning that the seeds are borne in a sac or closed vessel. The counterpart term is
Gymnospermous, meaning naked-seeded. This kind of pistil, or gynœcium, the simplest of all, yet the most peculiar, characterizes the Pine family and its relatives.
Fig. 337. A pistil, that is, a scale of the cone, of a Larch, at the time of flowering; inside view, showing its pair of naked ovules.
Fig. 338. Branchlet of the American Arbor-Vitæ, considerably larger than in nature, terminated by its pistillate flowers, each consisting of a single scale (an open pistil), together forming a small cone.