390 Dr. Dickie on a Monstrous Form 



No. 5. Sepals three ; corolla two, each of three petals ; stamens 

 three; ovari/ single. 



No. 6. The central flower : cahjx none ; corolla 5-cleft ; stamens 

 five, petaloid; ovary of three carpellary leaves, ovules in six rows. 



In flower No. 10. (see Table) the centre was occupied by three 

 ovaries and two small flower-buds. One of the ovaries was much 

 compressed, of two carpellary leaves open half way, its ovules 

 perfect ; another of the same size and structure inclosed one like 

 itself, the ovules imperfect ; the other larger than any of the two 

 former, of five carpellary leaves inclosing ripe seeds, beside it a 

 small flower-bud with all the parts converted into leaves ; the 

 other flower-bud had calyx, corolla and stamens nearly regular, 

 its ovary of two carpellary leaves, cleft half way ; in the upper part 

 of it were ripe seeds ; it inclosed a flower with 3 -cleft calyx, co- 

 rolla of one petal, two stamens alternating with it, its ovary and 

 ovules quite natural. In some instances the place of the ovary 

 was occupied by a number of small green leaves. In some the 

 calyx and corolla had the same colour and structure ; in one in- 

 stance imperfect flower-buds and separate carpels were developed 

 in the axils of the sepals ; the stamens in some were partially, in 

 others wholly petaloid ; the conversion of the ovary into a leaf and 

 of the ovules into buds was evident in several cases. Many of 

 the deviations from the usual structure here described have been 

 already recorded by different observers and require no comment. 



I would, however, particularly allude to the changes which the 

 ovarium and ovules present, and the inferences which may be 

 drawn from these. 



A simple ovarium is considered to be a modified leaf folded 

 upon itself, the margins united, and these alone in most cases 

 constituting the placenta (necessarily double) and producing 

 ovules. It was at the same time supposed that the stigma was a 

 mere prolongation of the midrib of the carpellary leaf, and there- 

 fore single and terminal. The " greatest botanist of this or any 

 age" has satisfactorily demonstrated (Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. xi. 

 p. 35) that each simple pistillum or carpel has necessarily two 

 stigmata, which are to be regarded, not as terminal, but lateral ; 

 the style where present being only a mere attenuation, in many 

 cases very gradual, of the whole body of the ovarium. Most 

 GraminecBj many Euphorbiacea, several Iridea, &c. are stated as 

 illustrating this point. The ovaria, in some of the monstrous 

 flowers already described, appeared to afford proof of the same ; 

 and many carpels in the earlier stages of their development yield 

 ample evidence that the opinion alluded to is in strict accordance 

 with nature. 



Ovules have been compared to buds formed upon the margins 

 of some true leaves, and declared to be analogous to them in 



