Harris — Polygamy and Certain Floral Abnormalities. 191 



possible without personal bias, and represents something near 

 the average condition. 



The proportion of the two types is by no means the same 

 for different localities, in some spots the perfect flowers being- 

 present in the average proportion, or even almost exclusively, 

 while at a short distance will be found an unusually high per- 

 centage of sterile flowers. On four plants growing quite near 

 together were noted August second : — 



Plant I 1 perfect 1 staminate. 



Plant II 2 perfect 2 staminate. 



Plant III 4 perfect 4 staminate. 



Plant IV 4 perfect 23 staminate. 



Other groups of plants were noticed which would have given 

 similar results as well as those which would have given almost 

 exclusively perfect flowers. The same condition was ob- 

 served during the summer of 1903 in an even more strikins: 

 degree. Whether the fact that these plants grew close 

 together has any significance or not was not determined. The 

 nature of the subterranean system of 8. Carolinense will be 

 borne in mind in this connection. 



In most of the descriptions of S. sisymbrifolium Lam. 

 the reduction of the pistil is not mentioned, the only ref- 

 erence noticed being that in the Botanical Magazine, where, 

 in the description of Plate 2568, there is the parenthetical 

 remark: " Baron Jacquin remarks that in the sterile flowers 

 the calyx is hairy, and in the perfect flowers, prickly." 

 Dunal does not refer to it in his monograph. 



In the Missouri Botanical Garden I have been able to watch 

 a considerable number of thrifty plants of this species dur- 

 ing two years. The pistils of the more terminal flowers are 

 reduced in a manner very similar to that of 8. Carolinense 

 but more frequently, a plotted curve showing a much more 

 rapid fall than in the species particularly studied, there being 

 on some of the racemes only three or four of the lower flowers 

 perfect. 



These instances suggest that an examination of living 

 material may show many more species of the genus to be 



