l^TliACALlCARY ORGANS. 



19 



which separate the calyx lobes. They are somewhat thickened and 

 fleshy at the base, but become very thin toward the apex. Like 

 other parts of the calyx they are well spotted with oil glands and have 

 faint veinlets radiating from a transparent median line. 



The fact that these organs are frequently adherent to the calyx 

 lobes and that they often have a transparent median line, somewhat 

 like the sutures that separate the lobes, suggests that they may repre- 

 sent ingrown margins of the calyx lobes. Or they may be considered 

 as stipular elements of the calyx lobes, brought into expression in an 

 irregular manner, like the bractlets that appear on the outside of the 

 calyx. If viewed as independent organs, apart from the calyx, it is 

 necessary to sup- 

 pose that they rep- 

 resent rudimentary 

 internodes or joints 

 of the floral branch, 

 intercalated be- 

 tween the calyx and 

 the corolla, perhaps 

 analogous to the 

 suppressed or rudi- 

 mentary branches 

 that occur from the 

 interval between 

 the vegetative 

 branches and the 

 fruiting branches. 



If reckoned as 

 parts of the calyx, 

 the intracalicary 



OriranS add to the Fig.6.— Flower of upland cotton, from below, with bracts removed, 

 , . showing the arrangement of calyx lobes, petals, and nectaries. (Nat- 



morphological uralsize.) 



analogies between the calyx and the involucre. If supposed to rep- 

 resent independent metamers, the intermediate position of the intra- 

 calicary organs would indicate that the so-called calyx is really a part 

 of the involucre, since it is separated from the corolla by the intra- 

 calicary organs, which might even be considered as rudiments of the 

 true calyx. It is possible that a study of the irregularities in the 

 formation of the involucre in relation to different systems of phyl- 

 lotaxy would give more definite indications regarding some of the 

 morphological questions. The three bracts and the five calyx lobes 

 would represent one complete whorl in a three-eighths system, but 

 not in a two-fifths or a one-third system. 



