description, to express tersely such differences in
the relation of these organs to the pistil, they are said to be

_Hypogynous_ (i. e. under the pistil) when they are all _free_, that is,
not adnate to pistil nor connate with each other, as in Fig. 270.

[Illustration: Fig. 270. Flax-flower in section; the parts all
free,--hypogynous.]

_Perigynous_ (around the pistil) when connate with each other, that is,
when petals and stamens are _inserted_ or borne on the calyx, whether as
in Cherry-flowers (Fig. 271) they are free from the pistil, or as in
Purslane and Hawthorn (Fig. 272, 273) they are also adnate below to the
ovary.

[Illustration: Fig. 271. Cherry-flower in section; petals and stamens
adnate to tube of calyx,--perigynous.]

[Illustration: Fig. 272. Purslane-flower in section; calyx, petals,
stamens, all adnate to lower half of ovary,--perigynous.]

_Epigynous_ (on the ovary) when so adnate that all these parts appear to
arise from the very summit of the ovary, as in Fig. 274. The last two
terms are not very definitely distinguished.

271. Another and a simpler form of expression is to describe parts of
the flower as being

_Free_, when not united with or _inserted_ upon other parts.

_Distinct_, when parts of the same kind are not united. This term is the
counterpart of coalescent, as free is the counterpart of adnate. Many
writers use the term "free" indiscriminately for both; but it is better
to distinguish them.

_Connate_ is a term common for either not free or not distinct, that
is, for parts united congenitally, whether of same or of different
kinds.

_Adnate_, as properly used, relates to the union of dissimilar parts.

272. In still another form of expression, the terms superior and
inferior have been much used in the sense of above and below.

_Superior_ is said of the ovary of Flax-flower, Cherry, etc., because
above the other parts; it is equivalent to "ovary free." Or it is said
of the calyx, etc., when above the ovary, as in Fig. 273-275.

_Inferior_, when applied to the ovary, means the same as "calyx adnate;"
when applied to the floral envelopes, it means that they are free.

[Illustration: Fig. 273. Hawthorn-blossom in section; parts adnate to
whole face of ovary, and with each other beyond; another grade of
perigynous.]

[Illustration: Fig. 274. Cranberry-blossom in section; parts epigynous.]

273. =Position of Flower or of its Parts.= The terms superior and
inferior, or