258 



vance the subject, however troulilesome or superfluous it may at 

 the time appear. 



FLOWERS OF THE PAPAYA. 



It is well known in the West Indies that, although the male 

 and female flowers of the papaya tree are usually produced on 

 separate trees, flowers possessing^ both characteristics ( hermaphro- 

 dite flowers ) and arising in female inflorescences, are often found, 

 and that it is also possible to cause a "male" tree to bear female 

 flowers and ultimately fruits, by cutting it back. 



L' Agriculture Pratique des Pays Chauds for October, 1911, 

 gives attention to an exceptional case, where hermaphrodite 

 flowers arose in a male inflorescence, in a note which describes a 

 plant in the Jardin Colonial in L'pper Guinea, near Kindia. This 

 plant had already borne male flowers, without fruiting, when sud- 

 denly at its full flowering time, it produced long axillary inflor- 

 escences containing gamopetalous flowers with normally developed 

 stamens and a rudimentary ovary. At the time of reporting, three 

 fruits had appeared, each about 4 inches long, and soon after a 

 young fruit about half as large. One of the fruits was plucked, 

 and was fovmd to contain numerous normal ovules. It was not 

 expected, however, that these would attain a true maturity, as 

 their stalks were exhibiting a yellowish tint which indicated pre- 

 mature ripening. 



In presenting the note, mention is also made of the observation 

 of a similar phenomenon, about 1887, by a French authority and 

 by travelers in Central Africa. 



