TERATOIiOaiOAL OBSERVATIONS ON PARNASSIA PALUSTRIS L. 



13 



Then 66-6 % of the 4-merous flowers had three carpels ; ap- 

 proximately 91-3 % of the 5-merous flowers had four carpels, i. e. , were 

 normal ; and 73-7 % of the C-merous flowers had five carpels. Too 

 much stress, however, must not be laid upon such too-slender figures. 



Abnormal flowers of P. paliistris were noticed on the Continent 

 more than half a century ago. Flowers with five carpels were first 

 recorded by A. and L. Bravais,* and are again mentioned by Louis 

 Bravaisf as occurring rarely; while Wydler, in his first paper]: on 

 the subject, records finding a flower with three carpels. So here 

 are both the commonest abnormalities known before the year 1850. 



Eoeper, in a paper entitled 'Abnorme Normalgestaltungen,' § 

 says that, in searching over more than a thousand flowers, he found 

 two specimens with five carpels. Seemann, dealing with the botany 

 of Alaska, II states that, "nearly one-half of the specimens collected 

 in Western Eskimaux-land had five stigmas, and a capsule of five 

 valves." It will be noticed at once that, as far as Seemann's and 

 Koeper's statements extend, there seems to be a great difference in 

 the amount of variation found in these two regions — Central Europe 

 and Alaska; in the former, two abnormal flowers in over a thousand; 

 in the latter, " nearly one-half of the flowers." 



Eoeper's experiences are by no means unsupported. Wydler 

 has published two other papers, H in which he describes abnormal 

 forms of P. palustris. These abnormalities number, adding those 

 of both papers together, fifteen flowers with three carpels, one being 

 4-merous, six flowers with five carpels, and one flower with six 

 carpels ; and though he gives no clue to the percentage of varying 

 flowers, his words seem to indicate that it was but small. 

 Buchenau** records flowers (one of each) with the following 

 formulae: — K^C^A^ + ^Gg, KgCgAg + gGg, andG^, and G^, and also 

 two flowers K5C5A54-5G5. 



Kirschlegerft says, "On rencontre, mais rarement, des ovaires 

 a 3 ou 5 placentaires et stigmates;" and Wettstein|J speaks of 



* ' Essai sur la disposition g^nerale des feuilles rectis^riees,' Ann. des Sc. 

 Nat. 2nd ser. xii. p. 39, 1839. 



t ' Examen organographique des Nectaires,' Id. xviii. p. 164, 1842. 



I ' Morphologische Beitrage,' Flora, 1844, p. 751. 

 § Bot. Zeitinig, 1852, x. p. 187. 



II Botany of the Voyage of H. M.S. 'Herald.'' London, 1852-1857, p. 25. 



5[ 'Morphologische Mittheilungen,' Flora, 1857, p. 18; and ' Kleinere 

 Beitrage zur Kenntniss einheimische Gewachse,' Flora, 1860, p. 395. 



** 'Einige Bliithenabnormitaten,' Flora, 1857, p. 291. 



tt Flore d' Alsace, Strasbourg, 1857, ii. p. 425. 



II 'Zur Morphologie d Staminodien v. Parnassia palustris,' Berichte d. 

 Veutsch. Bot. Gesellsclmft, viii. p. 304, 189U. 



