192 



UETEEOGAMY. 



in July, 18G0, some malformed cones of Abies excelsa, 

 in which the inferior part of the axis was covered with 



stamens, whilst the terminal por- 

 tion produced bracts and scales 

 like an ordinary female cone. 

 The stamens of the lower division 

 were serially continuous with the 

 bracts above. Some of the lower 

 scales of the female portion were 

 in the axils of the uppermost 

 stamens, which last were some- 

 what modified, the anther cells 

 being diminished, whilst the 

 scale-Hke crest had become more 

 elongated and pointed, in fact, 

 more or less resembling the or- 

 dinary bracts.^ Mohl, Schleiden, 

 and A. Braun have observed 

 similar cones in Pinus alba, and 

 Cramer figures and describes 

 androgynous cones in Larix 

 microcarpa. C. A. Meyer (' Bull. 

 Phys. Math.,' t. x, 1850) also 

 describes some catkins of Alnus 

 fruticosa which bore male flowers 

 at the top, and female flowers at 

 the base. 



Fig. 100. Spike of 

 Carex acuta, with female 

 flowers at the summit. 



On the subject of this section the reader 

 may consult A, Braun,. ' Das Individ.,' 1853, 

 p. 65. Caspai-y, ' De Abietin. flor. fern, 

 struct, morphol.' Schleiden, ' Principles,' English edition, p. 299. Mohl, 

 Verm. Schrift.,' p. 45. Meyen in Wiegm. Archiv.,' 1838, p. 155. 

 Cramer, ' Bildungsabweich,' p. 4, tab. v, figs. 13 17, Parlatore, ' Ann, 

 So, Nat,,' ser. iv, vol. xvi, p. 215, tab. 13a. See also under the head of 

 Prolification, Substitutions, Smj. 



' Professor Dickson concludes fi-om the examination of these struc- 

 tui'es that the male cone, consisting of simple stamens developed on 

 one common axis, must be regarded as a simple male flower, while 

 the axillary scales of the female cone are by him compai*cd with the 

 flattened shoots of Ituecus. 



