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  Ever-sporting 
  Varieties 
  

  

  feet 
  and 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  numerous 
  ovules 
  may 
  be 
  

   produced. 
  The 
  anthers 
  become 
  rudimentary 
  

   and 
  in 
  their 
  place 
  broad 
  leafy 
  flaps 
  are 
  de- 
  

   veloped, 
  which 
  protrude 
  laterally 
  from 
  the 
  tip 
  

   and 
  constitute 
  the 
  stigmas. 
  Ordinarily 
  these 
  

   altered 
  organs 
  are 
  sterile, 
  but 
  in 
  some 
  instances 
  

   a 
  very 
  small 
  quantity 
  of 
  seed 
  is 
  produced, 
  and 
  

   when 
  testing 
  their 
  viability 
  I 
  succeeded 
  in 
  

   raising 
  a 
  few 
  plants 
  from 
  them. 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  anomaly 
  occurs 
  in 
  other 
  plants. 
  

   The 
  common 
  wall-flower 
  (Cheiranthus 
  Cheiri) 
  

   and 
  the 
  houseleek 
  (Sempervivum 
  tectorum) 
  are 
  

   the 
  best 
  known 
  instances. 
  Both 
  have 
  repeated- 
  

   ly 
  been 
  described 
  by 
  various 
  investigators. 
  In 
  

   compiling 
  the 
  literature 
  of 
  this 
  subject 
  it 
  is 
  

   very 
  interesting 
  to 
  observe 
  the 
  two 
  contrasting 
  

   views 
  respecting 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  this 
  anomaly. 
  

   Some 
  writers, 
  and 
  among 
  them 
  Masters 
  in 
  his 
  

   " 
  Vegetable 
  Teratology 
  consider 
  the 
  devia- 
  

   tions 
  to 
  be 
  merely 
  accidental. 
  According 
  to 
  them 
  

   some 
  species 
  are 
  more 
  subject 
  to 
  this 
  anomaly 
  

   than 
  others, 
  and 
  the 
  houseleek 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  

   prone 
  to 
  this 
  change. 
  Goeppert, 
  Hofmeister 
  

   and 
  others 
  occasionally 
  found 
  the 
  pistillojid 
  pop- 
  

   pies 
  in 
  fields 
  or 
  gardens, 
  and 
  sowed 
  their 
  seeds 
  

   in 
  order 
  to 
  ascertain 
  whether 
  the 
  accidental 
  

   peculiarity 
  was 
  inheritable 
  or 
  not. 
  On 
  the 
  

   other 
  hand 
  De 
  Candolle 
  in 
  his 
  " 
  Prodromus 
  ' 
  

   mentions 
  the 
  pistilloid 
  wall-flowers 
  as 
  a 
  distinct 
  

  

  