‘ 
e me, Lr Teen BS ee eee 
cS cont tins iin 
128 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
of Gasteria. It seems probable that the ascidium 
originated from a continuous ring of meristematic 
tissue. 
The second specimen, figure 2, was seen by the writer 
only in its present condition, but according to Mr. Thomp- 
son it was earlier exactly comparable with the one de- 
scribed above, and reached its present condition by the 
rupturing of the calyptra. 
A comparable anomaly was seen in one of the leaves of 
a young plant of Agave Americana variegata grow- 
ing at the Garden. Figure 6 renders any description 
unnecessary. Inthe her- 
barium of the Garden is 
a photograph of another 
young plant belonging to 
a different species of the 
6, A, AMERICANA, X 3. section Americanae of the 
same genus, in which precisely the same condition 
prevails. 
Foliar ascidia are familiar to biologists in several in- 
sectivorous plants. The great interest attaching to these 
and the curious appearance presented by teratological 
ascidia have caused the latter to receive particular at- 
tention among plant anomalies and more than one 
monographic treatment has appeared. In 1838 Mor- 
ren* suggested a classification of all the foliar ascidia 
known to him. He again publishedt on this sub- 
ject in 1852, presenting an elaboration of his classi- 
fication of teratological forms and citing all cases known 
to him. In 1863 Kickx t modified and extended the 
classification proposed by Morren. From this paper 
* Morren, C. Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Brux. 5430-442, 582-586. 
1838.— Ann. Sci. Nat. II. 11: 119-128. 1839. 
t Morren, C. Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Belg. 195 3 444-462. 1852. 
¢ Kickx, J. Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Belg. II. 16: 625-632. 1863. 
