IRREGULAR PELORIA. 231 



narrow orifice of the corolla. Tlie colour at the base 

 of the tube inside is as in the perfect peloria ; while 

 round the summit of the tube, in both cases, the inten- 

 sity of colour is greatest on the outside. Now, in a 

 normal flower the deepest colour is within just opposite 

 the orifice of the corolla ; this deep colour is also seen 

 outside of the central and most elevated portions of the 

 lower lip. In the peloria the deep colour at the base 

 of the tube represents that which is near the orifice 

 under ordinary circumstances, while the outer patch 

 of colour at the apex corresponds to that formed on 

 the upper surface of the lower lip. On the other 

 hand, in peloric flowers of Gytisns Lalmrnum, Clitoria 

 Teniatea, Trifolmm repens, and other Papilionaceae, 

 it is the " standard," the form of which is repeated. 

 In the case of peloric aconites^ the lateral and some- 

 times the inferior coloured sepals assume the hooded 

 form usually peculiar to the upper sepal only, the 

 number of the petals or nectaries being correspond- 

 ingly increased. Balsams become peloric by the aug- 

 mentation in the number of spurs.'^ So when orchids 

 are affected with irregular peloria it is the form of the 

 labellum that is repeated, the accessory hps being 

 sometimes the representatives of stamens, which are 

 usually suppressed in these flowers,^ but at other times 

 the appearance is due simply to the fact that all three 

 petals assume the form usually confined to the lip, the 

 staminal column being unaffected, except that its direc- 

 tion and relative position with reference to the other 

 parts of the flower is different from ordinary. This 

 was the case in some flowers of Phala'iwpsis equestris 

 sent to me by Mr. Wentworth Buller. Fig. 123 repre- 

 sents a flower of Aristolochia caudata with two lips, 

 for which I am indebted to Mr. W. H. Baxter. 



From these cases it is e^^dent that the flowers in 



See also Seringe, ' Esquisse d'une Monogr. du genre Aconiium,' p. 124. 

 2 Schlotterbec, ' Act. Helvet.,' t. ii, pi. i, Iloeper. Balsam, p. 10. note. 

 ' Masters, " Peloria, &c., Ophrys aranifera," ' Joum. Linn. Soc.,* viii, p. 

 207. . 



