ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION. 



231 



its parts in a regular arrangement alternate with the sepals, al- 

 though cases occur in which they are opposite to them. The 

 cause of these different arrangements will be explained hereafter, 

 iinder the head of the G-eneral Morphology and Symmetry of the 

 Flower. 



On the inner surface of the petals of many flowers, we may fre- 

 quently observe appendages of different kinds in the form of scales 

 or hair-like processes of various natures. These are commonly 

 situated at the junction of the claw and limb, or at the base of the 

 petals, as in Mignonette (Beseda) {Jiff. 482), Crowfoot {fff. 481), 



Fiff. 481. Fig. 482. Fiff. 483. 



Fig. 481. Petal of Crowfoot with a nectarife- 

 rous scale at its base. Fig. 482. One of 



the petals of Mignonette (Beseda). Fig. 



483. A petal of the Grass of Parnassus (Par- 

 nassia palustris) hearing a fringed scale. 



Lychnis (Jig. 484), and Grass of Parnassus {fg. 483). Similar 

 scales ma}' be also frequently noticed in monopetalous corollas 

 near the throat (as in many Boraginaceons plants, for instance the 

 Comfrey, Borage, Forget-me-not, (/^. 466, r); and in the Dodder, 

 &c. Sometimes these scales become more or less coherent and 

 form a cup-shaped process, as in the Daffodil (Jig. 485) ; to this 

 the term corona is commonly applifd, and the corolla is then said 

 to be crowned. By many botanists, however, this latter term is ap- 

 plied, whenever the scales or appendages are arranged in the form 

 of a ring on the inside of the corolla, whether united or distinct. 

 The beautiful fringes on the corolla of the Passion-flower are 

 of a similar nature. 



The origin of these scales is by no means clearly ascertained ; 

 by some botanists, they are supposed to be derived from the 

 petals, by others, to be abortive stamens ; their origin probably 

 varies in different flowers. We shall return to this subject 

 hereafter when treating of the G-eneral Morphology and Sym- 

 metry of the Flower. By the old botanists many of these appen- 

 dages were described under the name of nectaries, although but 

 few of them possess the power of secreting the honey-like matter 

 or nectar from which they derived their names ; they were there- 

 fore improperly so termed. The nature of the so-called nectaries 

 has been already described under the head of Glands. 



The duration of the corolla varies like that of the calyx, but 



