462 



STRUCTURE AND LIFE HISTORIES 



of Ranunculus, in which the sepals and petals are in circles, 

 while the stamens and pistils are in spirals — a more 

 primitive feature. 



410. Petalody of Bracts. — It is also common in certain 

 species of this family (notably in the genera Trollius and 



Fig. 345. — Flower of a buttercup {Ranunculus sp.); a, b, normal, show- 

 ing 5 petals; c, d, petalody of stamens; e, petal with nectary at its base; 

 f-h, ripened ovaries. 



Anemone) for the green foliage-like bracts below the 

 perianth to assume the characters of sepals, and even of 

 petals, so that frequently one can hardly say whether a 

 given segment of the perianth is a true petal, or a trans- 

 formed bract. By the petalody of the bracts the flower 

 appears to be ''double." 



411. Coalescence of Petals. — It frequently occurs in 

 flowers of Ranunculaceae (and in other normally poly- 

 petalous families also) that the initial stages or primordia 



