282 METAMORPUY. 



metamorphosed ; sometimes the change is complete, 

 while at other times there may be every conceivable 

 intermediate condition between one form and another. 

 The sense in which the terms metamorphosis, substi- 

 tution, transformation, and the like, are herein used 

 has already been explained. For the convenience of 

 arrangement, metamorphosis of the parts of the flower 

 may be divided into several subdivisions, according to 

 the particular organ affected, and according to the 

 special kind or degree of change manifested, the main 

 subdivisions being here classed as Sepalody, Petalody, 

 Staminody, and Pistillody. 



Sepalody of the petals. This change, spoken of by most 

 authors as retrograde metamorphosis of the petals into 

 sepals, or as a substitution of sepals for petals, is 

 obviously a condition that is in most cases hardly 

 distinguishable from virescence of the corolla, or from 

 multiplication of the sepals. Nor is this of much 

 consequence unless there are some special structural 

 features which render the discrimina- 

 tion a matter of importance, in which 

 case the difficulty is generally easily 

 surmounted. The flower of the Saint- 

 Valery Apple may perhaps be cited 

 under this head. In the flower in 

 Fio. 152. Flower question there are neither stamens 

 of St. Valei7 apple, nor petals, unless the second or inner 

 wkh sepaioid pe- ^^^ ^f sepals be considered as sepa- 

 loid petals (fig. 152). 

 M. Alph. de CandoUe^ describes an instance in 

 Primula Auricula in which the corolla had assumed the 

 appearance of the calyx, but neither calyx nor corolla 

 in this case possessed perfect stomata. 



This malformation is much less common than the 

 converse one of calycanthemy. Many of the recorded 

 instances of so-called metamorphosis of the parts of 



' 'Neue Denkschrift. Schweiz. Qesellsch.,' band v, p. 9. 



