OF THE CARPELS. 259 



Fig. 138, for which I am indebted to Mr. S. J. 

 Salter, represents a very singular conformation in the 

 cucumber, described by that gentleman in ' Henfrey's 

 Botanical Gazette,' i, p. 208, and considered by him to 

 be due to the foliaceous condition of one of the three 

 carpels of which the fruit is composed. The portion 

 near the peduncle was binary, while the distal extremity 

 of the fruit was ternary. The main difficulties attend- 

 ing the acceptance of this explanation reside in the 

 peculiar reversed position of the leaf, and in the fact 

 that the fruit of the Gucurbitacece is probably of axial 

 nature, the dilated and succulent end of the peduncle 

 adhering to and usually conceahng the carpels; in 

 some cases, however, these latter project beyond the 

 axial portion, leaving no doubt as to the true nature of 

 the structure in these particular instances. 



Admitting the axial nature of the fruit, it might be 

 supposed that in Mr. Salter's cucumber an adventitious 

 leaf had been given off from the axis, but even on that 

 supposition the reversed position offers a difficulty, and 

 there still remains to be explained the fact that the 

 proximal part of the fruit was binary in its constitution, 

 the distal end ternary. 



M. Norman^ mentions a case wherein the carpels of 

 Anchusa ochroleuca were replaced by two leaves ; from 

 this he draws the inference that the pistil of borages 

 and labiates is really composed of two leaves, placed 

 fore and aft, the margins of the leaves being congeni- 

 tally fused. This tallies well with the account given 

 of the development of these plants by Payer, Germain 

 de St. Pierre, and others. 



In an Indian species of THumfetta^ not only were 

 the petals virescent, but the ovary also was much 

 enlarged, and in some flowers it was divided half 

 way down into five lanceolate leaves (fig. 139), the 

 sepals and stamens being in their normal con- 

 dition. 



' ' Ann. Sc. Nat.,' 4th series, vol. ix, p. 209. 



