THE DEHISCENCE OF ANTHERS BY APICAL PORES. 



187 



Sander soma,) and Tricyrtis^ while other members of the 

 group also show considerable differences in structure, and 

 none of them at all closely approach the form of the 

 apically dehiscent genus. In the twenty genera of the 

 Anthericinae, the group to which Agrostocrinum belongs, 

 however, the floral habit is quite uniform. In all, the 

 corolla is rotate; in several, the filaments are long and the 



anthers short, but in others the filaments are much reduced 

 in length and the anthers oblong to linear and sometimes 

 tending to be more connivent around the style. 



Space will not permit a detailed discussion of the floral 

 structure of the two families. The two illustrations just 

 given from the Liliaceae are perhaps representative. I 

 think it may be said for these families that in the Ama- 

 ryllidaceae the prevalent habit of the perianth is, roughly 

 speaking, infundibuliform while in the Liliaceae it is 

 patent or campanulate. In the Amaryllidaceae the four 

 apically dehiscent genera stand almost alone as representa- 

 tives of this floral habit while in the Liliaceae there are 

 many genera with patent or broadly campanulate perianth. 

 In the most of these genera the filaments are filiform, more 

 or less elongate, and bear short, usually versatile anthers, 

 but in several the filament is reduced in length while the 

 anther is of the more elongate form commonly seen in the 

 apically dehiscent genera. The forms which in their general 

 structure bear a close resemblance to the apically dehiscent 

 Solanum-Cassia type are almost wanting in the Amaryllid- 

 aceae. It must not be understood that they are identical 

 with the apically dehiscent genera except for the difference 

 in the method of the opening of the anthers. I do not go 

 so far as to state that they represent incipient stages of 

 members of this class, for in the interpretation of such 

 facts as these, the greatest caution must be exercised. It 

 must be pointed out, however, that in the general habit of 

 the flower there is not the sharp line of distinction be- 



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