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chapter eight t A Miscellany 



Several topics that have escaped the more systematic treatment 

 in preceding chapters will be considered briefly in this one. The 

 brevity does not imply that these topics are unimportant, but is 

 a product of space limitations and the fact that this book, like most 

 of the recent literature, is concerned with the circumstances bring- 

 ing about flowering rather than with associated matters. In addition 

 to the topics below, others connected with the physiology of flower- 

 ing suggest themselves, notably the physiology of meiosis and of 

 fertilization. These will be omitted entirely since an adequate 

 consideration would require a general discussion of the physiology 

 of reproduction, taking in material far beyond the scope of this 

 survey. A few remarks on the future of the physiology of flowering 

 conclude both chapter and book. 



ANTHESIS 



The culminating stage in flower development is the opening 

 of the bud, anthesis, with which is often associated the attainment 

 of the flower's characteristic color and scent. Most of the work on 

 anthesis has been concerned with the precise diurnal timing often 

 shown by this event. In the literature on endogenous rhythms, 

 anthesis is considered as one of the many phenomena under such 

 control. The effects of light and darkness on a number of plants 

 support this view. 



Among the earlier studies, perhaps the most interesting are 

 two papers by N. G. Ball on several plants whose flowers normally 



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