Origin of Peloric Toadflax 483 



terminal flowers of many branches were large 

 and beautifully peloric, bearing five long and 

 equal spurs. About their origin and inher- 

 itance nothing is known. 



A most curious terminal pelory is that of the 

 common foxglove or Digitalis purpurea. As we 

 have seen in a previous lecture, it is an old 

 variety. It was described and figured for the 

 first time by Vrolik of Amsterdam, and the 

 original specimens of his plates are still to be 

 seen in the collections of the botanic garden of 

 that university. Since his time it has been 

 propagated by seed as a commercial variety, 

 and may be easily obtained. The terminal 

 flower of the central stem and those of the 

 branches only are affected, all other flowers 

 being wholly normal. Almost always it is ac- 

 companied by other deviations, among which a 

 marked increase of the number of the parts of 

 the corolla and other whorls is the most strik- 

 ing. Likewise supernumerary petals on the 

 outer side of the corolla, and a production of a 

 bud in the center of the capsule may be often 

 met with. This bud as a rule grows out after 

 the fading away of the flower, bursting through 

 the green carpels of the unripe fruit, and pro- 

 ducing ordinarily a secondary raceme of flow- 

 ers. This raceme is a weak but exact repetition 

 of the first, bearing symmetrical foxgloves all 



