yyn. g. dickie on tiik gexus caxna. 



55 



In the ' Prodromus Fl. Nov. Hollandiae,' Canna is sei^aratcd from 

 Scitaviinece, because " a single lobe only of one of tlie lateral 

 stamina lias the appearance of an antber." Lindley gives as the 

 diagnosis of ZingiheracecB or Scifaminece, " one stamen, anther 

 two-celled," Marantacece or Cannecd presenting "one stamen, 

 having half an anther." Grisebach, under the Order Scitamineae, 

 admits two tribes : — 1. Zingiberacese, " anther two-celled, em- 

 bracing the style." 2. Cannese, "anther one-celled." A sum- 

 mary of these opinions respecting Canna appears to be this, 



a single anther having only one celljls supported on a petaloid 

 filament, the other cell abortive." 



Examination of the fully expanded flower only, would cer- 

 tainly lead to erroneous views respecting the series of parts 

 nearest the style ; the true structure can alone be ascertained by 

 examining the unexpanded flower in different stages ; and after 



carefully repeated observations I venture to offer the present 

 remarks : 



In the expanded flower a superficial inspection leads to the 

 conclusion that the anther is one-celled, the presence of a 

 petaloid part projecting from it tending to confirm this opi- 

 nion ; but even in this state, more careful examination will 

 reveal the remains of a longitudinal septum with a shallow 

 groove on each side. In Canna we have one of those cases in 

 which self-fecundation takes place, being, in fact, alone possible, 

 the anther performing its function before the individual flower 

 expands *. At early stages, the solitary stamen is much larger 

 than any other parts more internal than the petals ; in a bud of 

 Canna speciosa^ shortly before expansion, and about eight-tenths 

 of an inch in length, the stamen, as yet sessile, was four-tenths 

 of an inch long, perfectly developed, and evidently two-celled'^ 

 m early stages it is in all respects similar to the typical organ as 

 usually understood. Fig. 1 represents a transverse section when 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3. 





il\.>!»U 



it has almost reached the functional stage, or, in other words, 



* Instances of self-fecundation, as the rule, may be seen in pomc Goode- 

 niaoeip^ Selliera^ LeschenauUla, and in Lobelia, Streptocarjpus, Sfc. 



