40 



ADHESION. 



three separate flowers were to be found, with the 

 exception of the spur belonging to the labellum of the 

 middle flower (figs. 15, 16). 



One of the most common malformations in the 

 Foxglove {Digitalis) results from the fusion of several 

 of the terminal flowers into one. In these cases the 

 number of parts is very variable in different instances ; 

 the sepals are more or less blended together, and the 

 corollas as well as the stamens are usually free and 

 distinct, the latter often of equal length, so that the 

 blossom, although truly complex, is, as to its external 

 form, less irregular than under natural circumstances. 

 The centre of these flowers is occupied by a two to 

 five-celled pistil, between the carpels of which, not un- 

 frequently, the stem of the plant projects, bearing on 

 its sides bracts and rudimentary flowers. (See Proli- 



FlG. 17. Sy nan thy and other changes in a Foxglove. 



fication.) An instance of this nature is figured in the 

 * Gardeners' Chronicle,' 1850, p. 435, from which the 

 cut (fig. 17) is borrowed. 



One of the most singular recorded instances of 

 changes connected with fusion of the flowers is that 



