Ill, 112.] 



METAMORPHOSIS OF THE FLOWER. 



131 



however much admired, they are monstrous, because unnatural. In all double 

 flowers, as Hose, Peeony, Camellia, the stamens have been reconverted into 

 petals, either wholly or partially, some yet remaining in every conceivable 

 stage of the transition. In the double Buttercup i'416) the pistils as well as 

 stamens revert to petals, and in the garden Cherry, Flowering Almond, a pair 

 of green leaves occupy the place of the pistils. By still further changes all 

 parts of the flower manifest their foliage affinities, and the entire flower-bud, 

 after having given clear indications of its floral character, is at last developed 

 into a leafy branch (417). Further evidence of this view will appear in the 



417 



415, Ranunculus acris ; a single flower. 416, R. acris, (3. plena, a double flower. 417, Epacris impressa, 

 the flowers changing to leafy branches (Lindley). 



335. ^Estivation of the flower-bud. This term 

 (from cestivus, of summer) refers to the arrangement 

 of the floral envelopes while yet in the bud. It is an 

 important subject, since in general the same mode 

 of aestivation regularly characterizes whole tribes or 

 orders. It is to the flower-bud what vernation (vernus, 

 spring) is to the leaf-bud. The various modes of aesti- 

 vation are best observed in sections of the bud made 

 by cutting it through horizontally when just ready to 

 open. From such sections our diagrams are copied. 



