432 lIYrERTROPHY. 



of pea with pods double the ordinary size.' M. Olos* 

 mentions a case wherein the carpels of Delpkinitum 

 dictyocarpum were hypertrophied. The change in size 

 may or may not be attended by a difference in form ; 

 thus, in certain Legmninoscv, as Medleago lup^dina, Meli* 

 lotiis leucantha, the carpels are sometimes hypertrophied 

 and elongated, so as to resemble a claw or hook.^ 



The fruit of the common groundsel (Senecio vuU 

 garis) is in its normal condition two or three times 

 shorter than the involucre, and cylindrical for its whole 

 length, but it frequently happens that the fiiiits be- 

 come as long as the involucre itself, and taper from the 

 base upwards, so as to become beaked. Under this 

 head may also be mentioned the fleshy bulbils that are 

 found in the capsules of Crimtm, Amaryllis^ and Agave. 

 These are true seeds enormously dilated.* In these 

 seeds the outer coating becomes very thick and fleshy, 

 and is traversed by spiral vessels. 



It is obvious that very important results in a practical 

 point of view may be and have been arrived at by 

 cultivators availing themselves of this tendency of 

 plants to increase in dimensions under certain circum- 

 stances. It is needless to do more than refer to the 

 many fruits, vegetables, and cereals, which have thus 

 become enlarged and improved by careful selection and 

 rearing. 



Alterations of consistence often accompany changes in 

 size. The change may be one whereby the tissues 

 become unusually hardened, by the excessive formation 

 of secondary woody deposits, or softer and more suc- 

 culent than ordinary, from the formation of an in- 

 ordinate amount of loose cellular tissue. Generally 



' * Ann. Soc. Linn.,' Paris, t. i, p. 139. 



= ' Mem. Acad. Toulouse,' t. 6, 1862. 



D. C. Prod..' ii, pp. 172, 187. 



* Richard, " Obs. sur les bulbilles des Crinum ;" ' Ann. Sc. Nat.,' t. ii, 

 p. 12. pi. i, fig. 1, 2. See also A. Bi-aun, " Memoire sur les graines 

 chamues des Amaryllidces," &c. ; ' Ann. Sc. Nat.,' 1860, vol. xiv, p. 1, 

 tab. 1. 



