ATROPHY OF ORGANS FROM LACK OF NUTRITION 2*7*7 



that this degeneration is due to lack of nutrition, 

 by removing the inferior flowers from a young 

 bunch, but we are unaware that the experiment has 

 been made. 



In Viburnum tomentosum (fig. 82) the flowers 

 are arranged in a compound corymb and occur in 

 two forms. The central flowers have a small 

 corolla, five stamens, and a well-developed pistil 



FIG. 82. Flowers from the same inflorescence of Viburnum tomentosum. 

 A, sterile flower with rudimentary pistil and no stamens. B, sterile flower with 

 very rudimentary pistil and stamens. C, flower with two fertile stamens; the 

 other three stamens and the pistil are rudimentary. D, fertile hermaphrodite 

 flower. 



(fig. 82, I)). The eight or nine peripheral flowers 

 of each inflorescence have the corolla much larger, 

 but the stamens are absent and the pistil is rudi- 

 mentary (fig. 82, A). The petals turned towards 

 the outer side are much the largest, and it is not 

 rare for the petals turned towards the inner side to 

 be hardly larger than those of the central flowers. 

 What is important to notice, as it bears out the 

 relation between degeneration and lack of nourish- 



