186 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



section Melongena where the inflorescence is divided into two 

 branches, one being shorter, stouter and bearing but a single 

 flower which has a calyx armed with prickles, the other bear- 

 ing several flowers which are smaller and bear but few or no 

 prickles on the calyx, the large flower is fertile while the 

 others are usually sterile. 



In a recent paper Heckel,* after quoting the statement to 

 which reference has just been made, states that while he cannot 

 speak for all the species of Dunal's section Melongena^ in S. 

 Duchartrei as in S. esculentutn there exists a real monoecious 

 unisexual condition realized by the complete abortion of the 

 pollen in the stamens of the female flower in the egg plant, 

 while in S. Ducliartrei the stamens of the female flower con- 

 tained pollen of a much smaller dimension than that of the 

 male flower which is very well developed. Furthermore the 

 physiologically male flower had a small stigma covered with 

 short dry papillae, while in the female flower the stigma was 

 very capitate, green, and covered with long moist papillae. 

 The ovules seemed to have the same development in both 

 cases. 



It is of interest to notice that Dunal, in Histoire ties 

 Solanum says : t " Dans le Sol. longifolium j'ai vu le stylesim- 

 ple d'abord, se diviser en trois vers la fin de la floraison." 

 Heckel says of S. DucJiartrei : " L'ovaire, le style et le 

 stigmate sont tres reduits en dimensions dans la fleur male : 

 la stigmate est quadrifide, dans la fleur male et capite dans 

 la fleur femelle." In his laborious monograph of the genus 

 in De Candolle's Prodromiis Dunal says : " Flores hermaphro- 

 diti, rarius polygami, saepe pistillo abortivo steriles." 

 Sendtuer, in his treatment of the Brazilian forms in the 

 tenth volume of Martins' Flora Brasilieiuis^ says: "Flores 

 hermaphroditi, rarius polygami, saepe gyuaeceo abortivo 

 steriles. * * * Pistillum in plerisque speciebus in 

 ejusdem plantae diversis floribus, nunc completum, nunc in- 

 completum occurrit. * * * Stylus terminalis, longus 



* Heckel, E. Uue Nouvelle Espfece de I'Afrique Tropicale. Solanum 

 Buchartrei. Rev. Geo. Bot. 2 : 49-54. 1890. 

 t Page 92. 



