EVOLUTION OF THE INFLORESCENCE. 529 
suppressed, and the flowering to take place early in the year before the 
foliage appears: a condition resembling Chimonanthus would then ensue. 
Calycanthus may be regarded as resembling closely the ancestor of 
a 
Chimonanthus. 
= 
D 
SH 
d 
fe- 
A. Shoot of Peonia Moutan ending in a solitary terminal flower. b. Buds in 
axils of lower foliage leaves, which will produce shoots the following 
year. The part above the uppermost bud depicted will die away. 
r. Remains of the upper part of the previous year's flowering shoot. 
B. Shoot of Peonia officinalis ending in a solitary terminal flower. 
C. Shoot of Peonia albiflora ending in a group of four flowers. (A simple 
form of inflorescence.) 
g. Ground-level. bb. Buds in axils of basal scale-leaves, the whole ot 
the shoot above dying down at the end of the summer. 
RANUNCULACES. 
Peonia.—This is a distinctly interesting genus for observing the initial 
stage in the evolution of an inflorescence. All the species except four 
(P. albiflora, P. lutea, P. anomala, P. Veitehii) appear to have solitary 
202 
=< 
