The pistil and stamens

1015. The pistil and stamens are the essential parts of a flower. The corolla or the calyx, or both, may be wanting, and yet the flower will be termed perfect, because the absence of those parts is no obstacle to reproduction. Even the style and the filament may be absent without preventing the formation or ripening of the fruit; and there are many flowers which have the anther sitting close to the corolla, &c., without a filament, and the stigma to the germen without a style; but the anther, the germen, and the stigma are essential.