
MORPHOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES IN THE TOMATO. 185 
Adventitious buds on the stem, as in many plants, are common 
near the base, but on the upper parts all the adventitious buds I 
have observed are due to injury of the stem. 
Of the leaf.—Leafy processes resembling stipules are frequent. 
In the normal state the plant is exstipulate. 
Leafy processes and adventitious buds are formed on the rachis 
(as in Asplenium decussatum). 
Of the flower and fruit—In the normal state the flowers are 
ebracteate, but in some varieties bracts are common. 
The normal number of the segments of the calyx and corolla is 
five each ; six and seven segments are more common. 
Prolification of the floral axis is extremely common ; the adven- 
titious branch may be ¢erminal, lateral, or axillary. 
A secondary prolification of the floral axis, after the fruit is well 
set and nearly ripe, is not uncommon, the development of which is 
peculiar. This process is generally axillary, and at first presents the 
appearance of a diminutive and attenuated, but otherwise ordinary 
leaf. On closer examination it will be found that there is a slight 
swelling near the centre of what is apparently the petiole of the 
leaf. From this swollen portion to its base it will be observed 
that it has the appearance of a stem, in so far as it is perfectly 
cylindrical, while the part from the swollen portion to the lamina 
of the leaf is flattened on the upper surface, and generally 
channelled as in the ordinary petiole of the normal leaf. Further 
development reveals the fact that this process is in reality a 
branch, as there is a bud concealed in the tissue of the swollen 
portion of what might be taken as the petiole of the leaf. 
Fasciation of the flower and fruit is common. 
Of the secondary awillary shoots—The “stopping” of the 
ordinary lateral branches formed in the axils of the leaves is not 
sufficient to discourage the exuberance of the plant at these 
points, and in this connection the following phenomena have 
been observed :— 
(1) Lateral adventitious branches may be formed on one or 
both sides of the axillary branch that has been removed. 
(2) An adventitious branch may be formed in the axil between 
the base of the branch that has been removed and the 
petiole of the leaf. 
c 
