236 MR. I. H. BURKILL ON SOME VARIATIONS IN 
From very poor soil at Watton, in Norfolk, I gathered in May 
a number of terminal flowers to see if the smallest flowers borne 
by dwarf plants had fewest stamens and carpels. Such in part 
seemed to be the case. Amongst the smallest flowers I obtained 
one in which all the stamens, fifty-two in number, were reduced 
to staminodes *. 
RANUNCULUS FICARIA, Linn. 
Effect of Time of Flowering on the Number of Stamens and 
Carpels.—As in the former case of Stellaria media, so here the 
later flowers borne by the plant have fewer stamens and carpels 
than the earlier flowers. 
TaBLe XIII. 
Reduction in Number of Stamens and Carpels in later Flowers of 
Ranunculus Ficaria. 
Average . 
No. of Ratio of 
Locality. Date. | qowers stamens to 
"| No. of | No. of | No. of | No. of | 1 carpel. 
sepals. | petals. |stamens. | carpels. 
Cambridge, under ( March 3rd 32 3:08 756 22°87 13:41 170 
trees............... April 16th 75 3-25 8-0 1949 11:95 1:68 
Cayton Bay, top z] March 31st} 100 | 303 | 852 | 3824 | 3232 | 118 
T 
dH open fell. Wayan | 43 | 305 | gos | g067 | 2572 | 119 
Cayton Bay, thin | March 31st) 56 | 305 | 868 | 3796 | 3541 | 10% 
vood on diS. | wayah | 12 | so | s42 | 30 | 2502 | 116 
Muller T states that in this plant and Ranunculus Auricomus 
the number of petals increases with the season. 
Effect of Conditions.—A large number of flowers were examined 
besides those given in Table XIII. in order to see if different 
conditions affected the number of parts in the flowers. The 
results are contained in Table XIV. 
* Whitelegge, ** Gynodiccious Plants,” Nature, xviii. p. 588 (1878), records 
female flowers of Ranunculus bulbosus as having the petals reduced in size. 
T ‘Fertilization of Flowers, p. 78. 
