1 i^ 



4 P 



[ 7 



r - " r- 



^ ■' — T 



w-r( 



'f^ 



I 1 



11* '^ii. 



420 



CONTRIBUTION TO TFIK TKRATOLOGY OF THE GKNTS DATIUIA. 



J 



r 



tcotli, and tlio calyx was so nnicli Inflated that it recalled, in some specimens, 

 tlie enlarged vcntricoso calyx of J'hj/mJU, a member of the same family *. 



The corolla, which in the normal flowers attains a consldcrablo ahe, is in 

 the abnormal flowors qnito wanting ; in place of this floral enveloi)e I have 

 often observed some very small green phyllomes or leaflets, which are inserted 

 in almost cross directions. 



In the majority of these teratological flowers the sexual organs are often 

 likewise wanting ; in some cases a remarkable reduction of those organs is 

 seen. The androocium shows rndimental, almost sessile, anthers, tho^pollen 

 being quite undeveloped, while the gynoocium consists of a very small 

 ovarium with two hardly distinguishable cavities, without any trace of 

 ovules. I propose to investigate next season if these singular abnormalities 

 are hereditary, as is the case in numerous other plants— for insfauce, the 



in 



t 



It seems to 



me that similar anomalous formations confirm Delpino's 

 doctrine of idiomorphosis t, according to which phyllomatic traces or 

 primordia can arise independently in difTeront places ; and it is not necessary 

 to admit that a trace, normally destined to give rise to a corolla or to other 



organs, must necessarily produce those organs, and not leaves or oth 



appondicolar members of the caulomes. 



otnei 



]\XPLANATION OF PlaTE 25. 



1 





1 f^ Brancli Loarlnj^ a monstrous flowoi*. 



1 L Tlie same witli calyx cut open aiiJ displayed. 



* Ik/ 



2aj *.]a, 4fl. Throe exainplos of a nioiKstruus (lower. 

 ti fjy S b, 4 b. The saniu with calyx opcMuul and displayed. 

 {ju,Gb, Monsti-on8 flower, tlio second ligtu'e in outline indicatiny- 



ovary enclosed. 



All about natural size. (Fig. 5 has been omitted.) 

 Modena Royal Botanical Garden of the Universitv, 



31st December, 1920. 



the rudiinenlarj 



% 



In the goinis Ihjosn/amus similar nifilformations are Iniown. In Ilyoscyamns nWus L. 

 ■ rndimental flowera roduced to a single ^vell-de^•eloped calyx were de.scribed by Clos, " Essai 

 de Toni(olo{,-io taxinomiqne, on des anomalies v(5golules eonsiderees duns leura rapports avec 

 Ics divers degre's de la classification," p. 3/5 (Mem. Acad. Sc. de Toiilonsc, 3 ser., T. iii.); in 

 another species, Ilyoscyamm nhjer L., terminal flowers with only empty calyx were no'ted 

 by r. Ludwiy, " Weitero biologisclio Mittbeihin-cn," p. 89 (' Botunisclies Centralblatt ' viii 

 no. 42, Cassel, 1881). ■ ' 



t Ho Toui, C. 13., " Nuovo osserva/.ioni di teratologia fiorale nclla BUjiidh purpurea L " 

 (Atti del 11. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, f.ettere ed Arti, T. Ixxvi. 2, pp. 780 S3G 1 colonred 

 " plate, Venezia, 1917). ' 



X Delpino, F., " Pensierl suUa motamorfusi e snlk idiomorfosi presso lo piante vascolari " 

 t:Memorie dclla R. Accademia delle Scienze, ser, v. T. ii. pp. 101-117, Bologna, 1892). 





