Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PIS'TIL, n. [L. pistillum, a pestle.]

In botany, the central organ of a female phenogamous flower which contains the ovules, and in connection with which they become impregnated, and are matured into perfect seeds. It always consists of an ovary which is either one or more ovules, or a vessel containing them, and a stigma, which receives the pollen from the anther, and often also of a style which stands upon the ovary and supports the stigma.