MORE ABOUT THE (ENOTHERA. *i 9 



top of a stem often twenty inches long. The Pythagorean 

 tetrad (i.e., the number 4 and its double) predominates in all 

 its organs : 4 stigmata crowning a filiform stylus ; quadran- 

 gular capsule with 4 polyspermous lobes ; opening at top by 

 the separation of 4 valves ; twice 4 stamens ; 4 petals on a 

 large, emarginated limb ; 4 sepals. These are united at the 

 base, but not so as to prevent the observer from distinguishing 

 their number. 



The general terms " regular " and " irregular," applied to 

 the calyx, as to every other organ, require to be employed 

 with considerable reserve. The delicate shades, which ought 

 to separate regularity from irregularity, are often so inappre- 

 ciable that it is almost impossible to say where one begins 

 and the other ends. See, for example, the Labiatse. In 

 most genera and species of this family, the two lips, one of 

 which consists 'of two and the other of three foliola, bring 

 out very completely the inequality of the calyx. But there 

 are also Labiatae, the inequality of whose sepals completely 

 effaces the character of the irregular bilabiated calyx. 



In certain inflorescences, where the flowers comprising 

 them are very close together, as, for example, in the capitules 

 of the Synantheracese, the free upper portions of the calyx 

 may take the most irregular forms; as, sometimes, a tuft, 

 simple or feathery ; sometimes, membranous or scarious 

 spangles ; and, sometimes, bristles of greater or less stiffness. 

 What elements of the calyx do these transformations repre- 

 sent ? The veins, and notably the midrib of the limb of the 

 sepals, united underneath. 



