376 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



but quite unlike the lily or tulip, because the stamens are very 

 numerous in each blossom. In this plant there is no need of 

 speculating as to the origin of the petals. They arise in large 

 numbers from the failure of the stamens to develop as such. 

 The filaments broaden out upon opposite sides and a petal results. 

 In nearly half such petals the remnant of an anther can be seen 

 at the tip of the petal, which is somewhat notched, often deeply, 

 and in the center is the abortive anther. Near the center of the 

 flower the transition is more evident, for here the filament-wings 

 are not much broadened, and the anthers more prominent. Still 

 nearer the great center pistil the ordinary stamens may be found, 

 with their anthers bearing pollen. Occasionally the poppy illus- 

 trates a modification of the stamen in the opposite direction to 

 that given above — namely, the inner ones become small simple 

 pistils, which are either closely applied to the surface of the large 

 central compound pistil, or adherent to it and blending with the 

 stigmas. 



The rose family and the crowfoots both furnish a long list of 

 plants which uniformly produce double flowers under cultivation, 

 and for this reason these two orders are rich in ornamental garden 

 species. Both the roses and the buttercups abound in stamens ; 

 and, from what we have seen in the poppy, it should be expected that 

 doubling would be easy in such plants. The examples of doubled 

 flowers in these two families are so familiar that no further com- 

 ment need be made. Among the hardy cultivated roses, for ex- 

 ample, it is rarely that a blossom can be found not exhibiting all 

 gradations between perfect stamens and unmistakable petals. It 

 may, however, be stated that in a member of the rose family 

 grown for its fruit — namely, the apple — petal-stamens were fre- 

 quently met with. In the Tallman sweeting variety, upon one 

 tree, the doubling was found as frequently as one flower in ten. 

 Usually one stamen was transformed, but rarely so much so as to 

 be distinctly petaline. 



The abnormities which we have been considering, both ge- 

 nerically and specifically, are rarely met with in wild plants in a 

 state of nature. They are, therefore, transformations in flowers 

 concomitant with culture. It is a well-established fact that cult- 

 ure induces changes in those parts for which the plant is culti- 

 vated and it might be added that they are cultivated because of 

 this response. Varieties of any cereal differ mostly in the grain ; 

 beets, carrots, and turnips in the roots ; apples, plums, and peaches 

 in the fruit ; and so on. In accordance with the general rule, 

 plants grown for their flowers should vary most in the blossoms. 

 A plant when under cultivation has been removed from the con- 

 ditions which obtain in the wild state and is relieved from that 

 fierce struggle for life which is everywhere in progress among 



