MR. A. W. BENNETT ON IMPATIENS FULVA. 147 
On the Floral Structure of Impatiens fulva, Nuttall, with especial 
reference tothe Imperfect Self-fertilized Flowers. By ALFRED 
W. Bzxxzrr, M.A., B.Sc., F.L.S. 
[Read November 16, 1871.] 
(Puate 111.) 
THe existence of inconspicuous self-fertilized flowers, extremely 
different from the large and conspicuously coloured ones, in at 
least three species of Impatiens, I. noli-me-tangere, Linn., 1. fulva, 
Nutt., and Z. parviflora, DC., is well known to Continental and 
American botanists, but appears to have received but little notice 
from most English observers; at least I find no detailed de- 
scription of such flowers in the majority of works on English 
botany, or our ordinary text-books, though they are referred to in 
Dr. Boswell-Syme’s edition of Sowerby’s ‘ English Botany,’ and in 
Dr. Hooker’s * Student's Flora,’ and Bentham's * Handbook of the 
British Flora.” The first observation of these inconspicuous flowers 
appears to be due to Weddell, in the case of Z. noli-me-tangere, 
whose description of them is published in Jussieu’s *Mono- 
graphie des Malpighiacées’ and in Mohl’s account of every 
thing that was known with respect to this phenomenon down to 
1863 (contained in his paper, * Einige Beobachtungen über 
dimorphen Blüthen," in the * Botanische Zeitung" for that year), 
and is referred to by Hildebrand in his * Geschlechter-Vertheilung 
bei den Pflanzen,’ and by Professor Oliver, in a paper on “ Di- 
morphic Flowers," published in the ‘ Natural History Review’ 
for 1862 ; Professor Asa Gray, also, in his * Genera Flore Ame- 
rice boreali-orientalis, describes them in his diagnosis of that 
genus, and gives an admirable drawing of both kinds of flowers 
in the case of T. fulva. To Dr. Torrey, however, appears to be- 
long the credit of having first observed them in the American 
species, he having already mentioned them in his ‘ Flora of the 
State of New York.’ 
Having had the opportunity during the past autumn of ob- 
serving tolerably accurately the habit and development of these 
minute or * cleistogenous ” flowers (as they have been termed by 
a German writer) of Impatiens fulva, Y am able to add a few par- 
ticulars to those already published, which may be interesting as a 
contribution to our knowledge of the phenomena of cross-ferti- 
lization and self-fertilization. That the existence of these flowers 
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