244 



THE FLOWER. 



indeed, there is but one in a few plants of this family. Now it oc- 

 casionally happens that the doubling of this stamen is, as it were, 



arrested before com- 

 pletion, so that in 

 place of two stamens 

 we have a forked fila- 

 ment bearing a pair 

 of anthers ; as fre- 

 quently happens in 

 some species of Strep- 

 tanthus (Fig. 3G8). 

 Here the two stamens 

 in place of one may 

 be compared with a 

 confpound leaf of two 

 leatiets. In the re- 

 lated Fumitory fam- 

 ily three stamens reg- 

 ularly appear in the 

 place of one. The- 

 circles of the flower 

 are in twos through- 

 out ; viz. tliere is, 



first, a pair of small scale-like sepals ; alternate with these, a pair 



of petals, Avhich, in Dicentra, &c. (Fig. 369-371), are saccate or 



spurred below ; alternate and Avithin these 



is a second pair of petals (Fig. 372) ; 



alternate Avith these are two clusters of 



three more or less united stamens, which 



plainly occupy the place of two single 



stamens. The arrangement of parts is 



shown in the annexed diagram (Fig. 



373) ; where the lowest line indicates the 



subtending bract, and therefore the anterior side of the blossom ; 



the two short lines in the same plane re])resent the sepals ; the two 



FIG. 369. Dicentra CucuIIaria ( Dutchman '.s-Breeches), with its Isind of bulb, a leaf, and a 

 scape in flower ; reduced in size. 370. A flower of the natural size. 371. The same, with the 

 parts separated, except the sepals, one of which is seen at the base of the pistil. 372. The 

 inner pair of petals, with their tips coherent. 



FIG. 373. Diagram (cross-section) of the similar flower of Adlumia. 374. One of the sta- 

 mens increased into three by chorisia (tlie lower part of the common filament is cut away). 



370 



369 



374 



