442 



Mr. George Dickie on the Fumariaceae. 



Bels arc nearer the outer than the inner edge of the filament 



bearing the one-celled anther. The figure 

 will illustrate this : the waved lines repre- 

 sent the vessels, and the dotted lines the 

 places where the compound filament has a 

 tendency to separate. This is another fact 

 which adds much to support the probability 

 of Prof. Lindley's opinion. 



Should it however be denied that the ve- 

 nation of the parts cannot in this case enable us to explain the 

 anomaly, whether apparent or real, it will be allowed that the 

 arrangement of the vessels, which appears in a great number 

 of instances to be very regular and constant, is worthy of at- 

 tention. This has been applied in explaining the arrangement 

 of the parts of the flower in the Graminece ; and the venation 

 of the ligulate corolla of the Composites appears to indicate 

 the true nature of this peculiar form of perianth. 



Occasionally monstrosities occur in plants which are other- 

 wise very regular in the arrangement of their flower ; adhesion 

 of parts which are generally separate frequently occurs. A 

 monstrous variety of Lycopsis arvensis occurred to me some 

 time back, in which the corolla was 12-cleft, the stamens 11, 

 the ovules upwards of 20 in number, with 3 styles : the calyx 

 contained 11 divisions. 



The three styles were very unequal in size, two small and 

 one very large ; the latter contained four distinct fasciculi of 

 vessels. ; One of the smaller styles presented near its summit 

 a small curved process supplied by a separate bundle of ves- 

 sels ; this process when dissected presented the structure of 

 an anther : it contained an imperfect pollen, and its lining 

 membrane consisted of the same peculiar nbro-cellular tissue 

 which is found in the anther in its natural condition. Occa- 

 sionally two stamens adhere by their filaments in Mercurialis 

 perennis, presenting the remarkable appearance of a four-celled 

 anther. In such cases however the filament contains two di- 

 stinct sets of vessels of equal size, which shows the true nature 

 of the anomaly; and if any other proof was necessary, specimens 

 occur which present various degrees of adhesion between neigh- 

 bouring filaments, from the slightest possible to that which 



