366 



MULTIPLICATION. 



petals are likely to be so likewise, and so forth. One 

 of the most curious illustrations of this is that recorded 

 by Mr. Berkeley^ in a plum, wherein there was an 

 increased number of sepals, a corresponding augmen- 

 tation in the petals, while the pistil was composed of 

 two and sometimes three carpels distinct from the 

 calyx and from each other. In the flowers there did 

 not appear to be any definite relation in the position 

 of the parts either with reference one to another or to 

 the axis. 



Fio. 186. Plum. Increased number of parts in the calycine, corol- 

 line, and carpellary whorls respectively. 



In Primulacece this general augmentation has been 

 frequently noticed.'' 



Among Orchidece the instance related by Dr. Seu- 

 bert is worth alluding to here. This botanist observed 

 and figured a flower of Orchis palnMris with tetra- 

 merous arrangement of parts, that is to say there were 



' ' Gard. Chron.,' 1852, p. 452. 



' See Cramer, ' Bildungsabweich.' pp. 16, 24. 



