COROLLA. 397 



of sepal8 is not a very common occurrence among 

 dicotyledonous plants. Scringe figures a proliferous 

 flower of Arabis alpina with two sepals only, and a 

 similar occurrence has been noticed in Dlplotaxis tenui- 

 foUa. 



In Cattleya violacea the writer has met with a flower 

 in which the uppermost sepal was entirely wanting, 

 while two of the lateral petals were fused together. 

 Moquin records that in some of the flowers of Cheno- 

 podiacecp, in which the inflorescence is dense, a suppres- 

 sion of two or three sepals sometimes occurs. The 

 species mentioned are Amhrina ambrosiodes, Chenojpodium 

 glaucum, and Blitum polymorphurn. 



Meiophylly of the corolla. Suppression of one or more 

 petals is of more frequent occurrence than the corres- 

 ponding deficiency in the case of the sepals. Among 

 GaryophijUacece imperfection as regards the numerical 

 symmetry of the flower is not uncommon, as in species 

 of Cerastium, Sagina, Dianthus, &c. In Rammculacece 

 the petals are likewise not unfrequently partially or 

 wholly suppressed. A famihar illustration of this is 

 afforded by Banunculus auricomuSf in which it is the 

 exception to find the corolla perfect.^ Some varieties 

 of Corclwrus acutangulus in west tropical Africa are 

 likewise subject to the same peculiarity. Amongst 

 Pajnlionacece absence of the carina or of the alae is not 

 uncommon, as in THfolium repeals, Faba vulgaris^ &c. 



Moquin relates a case of the kind in the haricot 

 bean, in which the carina was entirely absent, and 

 another in the pea, where both carina and alje were 

 missing, thus reducing the flower to the condition that 

 is normal in Amorp)ha and Afzclia. Suppression of the 

 upper lip in such flowers as Calceolaria has been termed 

 by Morren " apilary." 



' De Eochebrune, ' Bull. Soc, Bot. Fr.,' ix, p. 281. The author points 

 out seven grades between complete absence of petals and their presence 

 in the normal number in this plant. See also Guudin, in ' ^och. FI. 

 Helv. ;' Koch. ' Synops. Fl. Germ. ;' Cramer, ' Bildungsabweich,' p. 85. 



