FLOWEH IN THE GENUS NAPOLEONA, ETC. 495 



tudiuallv plicate, tlie ribs thickeued and spreading from the base 

 like a fan. The ribs are from 6 to 7 to each lobe, and more pro- 

 minent on the lower than on the upper surface ; wide at the base, 

 they gradually taper to a point ; the intervening substance is 

 membranous and much crumpled at the margins. The corolla for 

 about three-fourths of its extent is of a rich claret-colour, while the 

 margin is cream- or apricot-coloured. In the bud the central and 

 larger portion of the corolla is erect, the margin, however, being 

 infolded ; while the base is somewhat bent at its insertion. As it 

 expands, it first spreads horizontally and is afterwards bent 

 downwards, so as completely to conceal the calyx. Between the 

 corolla and the true stamens are two rows of organs, to which 

 various names have been given by different authors. Por the 

 present I propose to speak of them as the corona, using that 

 term purposely because it is vague and conveys no definite im- 

 pression as to the exact morphological signification of the organs 

 in question. The first row^ of the corona, then, consists of from 

 fifty to sixty linear, or strap-shaped, sharply-pointed whitish 

 threads (staminodes ?) tij)ped with pink, coherent one with another 

 to a very slight extent at the extreme base. Their length is 

 less than half that of the corolla ; but they are often, in the culti- 

 vated plant, irregular in size and form in the same flower, while 

 they vary in number in different blossoms. They are at first 

 erect but afterwards follow the curvatures of the corolla; and, 

 just at the bend, they often present a slight excrescence or fold, 

 representing perhaps the traces of an anther. The second row 

 of the corona consists of from forty to fifty erect, lanceolate, one- 

 nerved segments (staminodes ?), half the length of the corolla, or 

 even more, united together for fully half their lengtli, whitish or 

 cream-coloured on the inner surface, pink externally at the base, 

 and pink on both surfaces at the infolded apex of each segment. 

 In some flowers, not only is there a pink spot on the outer surface 



of the base of each segment, but there is also a little fold opposite 

 to the similar process in the outer row, and the full significance 

 of which will be better seen when some of the other forms are 

 described. Within the second row of the corona are placed the 

 stamens, about twenty in number, adherent for a short distance 

 to the base of the preceding whorl, and also coherent one with 

 another for the greater part of their length. A slight separa- 

 tion between every four shows that tliere are really five phalanges 

 of stamens, each phalanx consisting of four filaments, of which the 

 two outer only are usually furnished with anthers, while tlie two 



