Lecture XIII 



PISTILLODY IN POPPIES 



One of the most curious anomalies that may 

 be met with in ornamental garden-plants is the 

 conversion of stamens into pistils. It is neither 

 common nor rare, but in most cases the change 

 is so slight comparatively that it is ordinarily 

 overlooked. In the opium-poppy, on the con- 

 trary, it is very showy, and heightens the orna- 

 mental effect of the young fruits after the fad- 

 ing of the flowers. Here the central capsule is 

 surrounded by a large crown of metamorphosed 

 stamens. 



This peculiarity has attracted the attention 

 both of horticulturists and of botanists. As a 

 rule not all the stamens are changed in this way 

 but only those of the innermost rows. The 

 outer stamens remain normal and fertile, and 

 the flowers, when pollinated with their own pol- 

 len, bear as rich a harvest of se^ds as other 

 opium-poppies. The change affects both the 

 filament and the anther, the former of which is 

 dilated into a sheath. Within this sheath per- 



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