THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 89 



row petaloid bodies colored like the corollas. The color of 

 this monstrous corolla, a lavender dotted with maroon, was a 

 trifle paler than that of the normal flowers. About 21 bracts, 

 apparently representing sepals, surrounded the base. Six long 

 and narrow flat-tubular corollas, wholly unlike the flowers be- 

 low, were also included in the inflorescence subtended by this 

 circle of bracts. Two of these may be seen in the photograph. 

 The large bud which occupied the center, apparently replacin.g- 

 the pistils, has later developed into a continuation of the main 

 stem, but at a difi^erent angle, bearing normal flowers. 



In order to produce this monstrous inflorescence, which 

 at first sight would be taken for a single saucer-shaped corolla, 

 several flowers would have to be brought into a whorl by a 

 shortening of the internodes; then the tubular corollas would 

 have to be conceived as' splitting down one side, opening out 

 flat and coalescing by their edges ; but whether this represents 

 what actually did take place can only be conjectured. Has 

 anything similar' to this been observed by any reader of the 

 Botanist? 



[Prof. Nelson has here given us an most excellent illustra- 

 tion of that condition is plants known as peloria. The first re- 

 corded occurrence of peloria was made by one of the students 

 of Linnseus who found flowers of the common toad-flax {Lin- 

 aria vulgaris) with five spurs instead of the usual single one. 

 Since then the condition has been noted in the snapdragon 

 {Antirrhinum), nasturtium {Tropoclium) , beard tongue 

 {Pentstemon) and many other forms of the Scrophulariacese. 

 Peloria is ordinarily defined as the return of an irregular flow- 

 er to the regular condition. Since irregular flowers are regard- 

 ed as having arisen from regular ones, the phenomenon is like- 

 ly to occur in any species with normally irregular flowers. In 

 the case of the foxglove, the form is a very old one, and has 

 been propogated from seed. The form known as gloxinioides, 

 formerly monstrosa, is of this nature and seeds may be bought 

 of most seedsmen. The illustration so clearly shows how pe- 

 loric flowers look, that we trust it will enaljle others to dis- 



