134 DR. J. D. HOOKER ON THE GROWTH AND COMPOSITION 
ovules or carpellary organs are differentiated, and I shall therefore commence with the 
bud at this stage, as the first in which the structure and composition of the ovary can 
be studied. 
1. In the first stage (PL XXVI. fig. 2) the bud is a minute turbinate body, about 4 line in 
- diameter, with little external distinction between the flower and peduncle. On a vertical 
section (fig. 3), the double perianth is found to be wholly superior, the sepals placed highest, 
then the petals, then the stamens, whose anthers (s) form minute clavate bodies, sessile 
at the very base of the petals. All these organs are placed considerably above the plane 
of the centre of the flower, which presents a depressed area with a very low broad central 
mamilla, whose vertex scarcely rises to the level of the plane of the base of the stamina. 
At this period the ovary is manifestly plunged into the apex of the peduncle, and can 
by no means be regarded as invested by the true calyx, the bases of the sepals being 
obviously inserted in the margin of the broad obconic apex of the peduncle. In some 
buds at this period, the central mamilla of the axis (the future style of Griffith) is sur- 
rounded by a low broad ridge, or annulus, correctly described by Griffith as belonging to 
the carpellary leaves. 
This is Griffith's earliest stage; he, however, regards the central mamilla as the pistil- 
lum itself, a view which is irreconcileable with the fact that the ovarian cells are in the 
next stage developed below the plane passing through its base, and removed from the 
circumference of its base. 
2. The next marked stage (fig. 4) is that in which the anthers are fully formed and their 
polliniferous cavities defined, and hence well distinguishable. At this period the central 
mamilla has risen, and presents the appearance of a style consisting of a short column — : 
with a depressed conical hemispherical base; it is more or less invested by the annulus (a), 
which was obscurely seen in the first stage; this annulus has five notches at its mouth, 
is very thick, and points upwards and inwards towards the apex of the column, being 
usually applied to its base. The relative position of the stamens and perianth to the plane 
of the ovarium is the same as in the first stage; vascular bundles are developed in the 
petals, and are traceable continuously downwards into the peduncle, and branches from 
these bundles supply the stamens also. The stamens arch over the annulus, and the con- 
niving apices of the anthers almost reach the central column ; they are opposite the five 
notches in the annulus, and five slight ridges on the annulus correspond with its teeth 
and with the interstices between the anthers. 
At this period the ovules are first developed. A whorl of about twenty minute cavities 
are traceable in a plane below the point of junction of the annulus and conico-hemi- 
spherical base of the column ; the ovarian cavities (0) point downwards and outwards. The 
ovules appear as minute papillæ, occupying the base of each cavity towards the axis; 
they present no distinction of parts whatsoever. No vascular bundles are discernible in 
the ovarium. | | 
In this stage I have included the second and third stages of growth described by 
Griffith, because, after examining an extensive series of buds, I find very great irregu- 
larities in the time of appearance of the ovarian cavities, relatively to the development 
of the annulus. In some buds I find the ovules formed before the annulus has reached 
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