lOS ON THE CORONA OF NARCISSUS, 
three in sestivation decidedly overlap the three inner lobes, which are 
opposite to the petals and alternate with the outer row of stamens. 
Moreover, T have met with double flowers q{ Narcmus poeticns, in 
which there have been three sepals, three petals, three outer coronal seg- 
ments distinct from each other, three inner coronal segments alternate 
with the former, and placed on a lower level in the flower, just as the 
inner row of stamens in the PolyantJius Narcissus are, and within these 
coronal segments there were the six oi'dinary stamens in two rows, but 
the pistil was merely rudimentary. 
In conclusion, then, we cannot but think that Dr. Lindley's views on 
the nature of the corona are nearest to the truth, M. Baillon's opinion, 
that it is a mere production from the thalamus, does not affect tlie 
question ; for are not the stamens and all the other parts of the flower 
productions from the thalamus ? Neither does the order of develop- 
ment invalidate the notion above given. One sepal or one stamen 
lags behind another in its development often, and yet it is not tlie less 
considered a sepal or a stamen because its fellows are developed 
first. 
As to M. Gay's conclusion, that the inner three segments of the pe- 
rianth in the normal flower are merely modified stamens, — an inference 
which he draws from one of the specimens alluded to previously, in 
which there were three coi*onal whorls and no true petals, — we would 
merely ask whether a much more reasonable explanation of this flower 
may not be found in the supposition, that in this particular flower the 
petals were replaced by modified stamens in the guise of coronal seg- 
ments ? 
Postscript, — Since writing the above remarks, T have perused a paper 
of M, Ch. Morren's in the 20th vol. of the Bidl. de I'Acad. Eoy. de 
Belgique, part ii. p. 264, which had previously escaped my notice, as 
it must also have done that of M. Gay. M. Morren comes to pre- 
cisely the same conclusions as myself, as to the nature of the corona of 
Narcissus, viz. that it consists of a double row of modified stamens. 
He draws this inference from a variety of iV, major cultivated in gar- 
dens and affected with median prolification or diaphysis. The anthers 
in these flowers show transitions between their ordinary form and that 
of the lobes of the corona, similar to those already alluded to in N. in- 
comparalilis and N, poeticus. 
The apparent alternation of the segments of the corona with those 
