50 SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS, 



undoubtedly the original condition of flowers, and 

 can be now seen in Ranun' cuius, Knowlto'nia, aud 

 Anemo'ne. 



Hence, in looking for such a condition, one turns to 

 the family Banunculacece, to which these three plants 

 mentioned belong, as best illustrating it; and this 

 Order or Family always stands first in the usual 

 systems of classification. Thus Ranun'culus pinna'tus, 

 or Knowlto'nia, has five free sepals, five or more free 

 petals, 00 free stamens and oo free carpels, every one 

 of these parts ultimately falling off by itself. 



Now, starting from an original freedom, any one 

 or more whorls may have its parts grown together, 

 respectively, into a single piece. They are then said 

 to cohere. Thus, in Heaths, while tlie four sepals are 

 very nearly, and the eight stamens are all quite, free 

 from each other, the four petals and the four carpels 

 have cohered together, in each case. In Roel'la the 

 five sepals cohere and the five petals cohere, as shown 

 in Fig. 11, I., II., and the diagram IV. 



In the common plant, Strutli'iola virgaJta, with 

 white, scented flowers, of the order Thymelacece} and 

 of any plant of the large order Proteacece} the four sepals 

 are coherent into a short or long tube, the tips of the 

 sepals being alone free, constituting the liml. As there 

 is no corolla in these plants, the flowers are said to be 

 incomplete. 



' Illustrations will be found under these families. 



