28 



The Ottawa Naturalist. 



[May 



rose colour, depauperate, dioecious; involucre composed of 4-5 

 bracts, one of them sometimes bifid. 



The abortion of the stamens and the reduction of the 

 petaloid sepals seem to account well for the increased luxuriance 

 of the vegetative organs. Indeed, a mass of observations point 

 to the fact that, in the metabolism of plants, vegetative and re- 

 productive activity behave in inverse ratio. 



The affinity of the genus Hepatica with Anemone is an in- 

 teresting problem, and observers should be on the lookout for 

 deviations that may open lines of research. 



Fig. 1. 

 Abnormal involucre of Hepatica acutdoba DC. 



