116 



ALTERATION OF POSITION. 



either from its centre or from the axil of some of its con- 

 stituent parts. Prolification of the flower is therefore 

 median or axillary, and the adventitious bud itself may- 

 be of a leafy or a floral nature. 



Median leafy prolification. In this malformation the 

 centre of the flower is occupied by a bud or a branch ; 

 the growing point or termination of the axis which 

 ordinarily ceases to grow after 

 the formation of the carpels, 

 takes on new growth. This is^ 

 well shown in the accompanying 

 illustration (fig. 58), represent- 

 ing the thalamus of a strawberry 

 prolonged beyond the fruits into 

 a small leaf-bearing branch. 



Fig. 58. Receptacle of straw- 

 berry prolonged into a leafy 

 branch. From the ' American 

 Agriculturist.' 



Fig. 59. Flower of Vei-basciim 

 with five disunited sepals, five 

 similar green petals, and a pro- 

 longed branch in the centre of 

 the flower. 



In other cases the carpels are entirely absent and 

 their place is supplied by a leafy shoot as in a species of 

 Verbascum, which came under my own observation. 

 In this case the petals Avere virescent, and the stamens 

 and pistils were entirely absent, hence in truth, the so- 



