690 CAMPANULACE^E. [Epigy.nous Exogens. 



nulaa the cells of the ovary are equal in number to the stamens and the divisions of the 

 corolla and calyx, which points out the natural symmetry of the flower. In Lobeliads 

 abortion is more frequent. In both groups the innermost organs are abortive more 

 frequently than the outermost. Thus, the number of cells is often smaller (never 

 greater) than that of the stamens ; the number of stamens is sometimes smaller (but 

 never larger) than that of the lobes of the corolla ; and the same is true of the lobes 

 of the corolla with respect to the calyx. Finally, Lobeliads have sometimes a corolla 

 of a fine bright-red, a colour unknown among Bellworts ; nine-tenths of the species 

 of the latter have blue flowers ; and those in which the colour varies, and into which a 

 little red enters (as Canarina), are far from having the brilliancy of Lobelia cardinalis 

 for instance. After Lobeliads, the Natural Orders with which Bellworts have 

 the most relation are, no doubt, Goodeniads and Styleworts, which formed part of the 

 Campanula? of Jussieu. The regular corolla of Bellworts distinguishes them, at first 

 sight, from both those Orders, as well as from Lobeliads. Besides, Campanulas have 

 not the fringed indusium which terminates the style of Goodeniads and surrounds their 

 stigma. Although this organisation approaches that of Lobeliads, and so of Bellworts, 

 it is not less true that it affords an important mark of distinction, and that it is con- 

 nected with essential differences in the mode of fecundation. Brown has also remarked 

 that the corolla of Goodeniads is sometimes polypetalous, which it never is in Bellworts 

 or Lobeliads ; that the aestivation of the corolla is induplicate, not valvate ; that its 

 principal veins are lateral, or alternate with the lobes, as in Composites ; that in the 

 species of Goodeniads with dehiscent fruit, the dehiscence is usually septicidal, while in 

 the two other groups it is always loculicidal ; finally, that Goodeniads have not the 

 milky juice that characterises Bellworts and Lobeliads." Notwithstanding the poly- 

 spermous fruit and different inflorescence, this Order approaches very closely to Com- 

 posites ; the milky juice is the same as that of the tribe called Cichoraceas ; the species 

 have, in many cases, the flowers crowded in heads ; the stigma is similar to that of 

 many Composites ; there are the same collecting hairs on the style, in both cases 

 intended to clear out the pollen from the cells of the anthers ; and, finally, the habit is 

 very like. These collecting hairs, which clothe the style of Bellworts in a most remark- 

 able manner, arranging themselves in lines having a direct relation to the number and 

 position of the anthers, have been the subject of special examination 

 by several observers, especially by Adolphe Brongniart. This Bota- 

 nist ascertained that such hairs are not, as had been supposed, 

 deciduous, but that they are retractile, like the hairs of certain 

 annelides or the tentacula of snails. It appears that, at the time of 

 the expansion of the flower, the hairs, which had previously projected 

 and swept out the pollen from the anthers, are drawn back into 

 certain cavities lying at their base, the upper half sheathing itself 

 in the lower half as it is by degrees withdrawn. M. Brongniart is of 

 opinion that there is no ground for supposing that this singular 

 phenomenon is connected with the fertilising process. (See Ann. 

 des Sc. Nat. 2 Ser. 12. 244). But Mr. Hassall disputes this statement, 

 which he declares is "wholly opposed to the result of his investiga- 

 tions." — Ann. A T at. Hist. viii. 86. 



It has been remarked in the Botanical Register (1842, t, 3.), that 

 . the genus Glossocomia brings the Orders of Nightshades and Bell- 

 Fig. CCCCLXIV. %V orts into close contact. 



With respect to the singular genus Sphenoclea, erected into an Order by Mar- 

 tius, although it cannot be regarded as a genuine species of Bellwort, because 

 of the absence of collecting hairs from its styles, the round sub-sessile anthers, 

 the stamens distinctly inserted upon the corolla, and the peculiar habit of the only 

 known species, yet it seems to have more affinity to this Order than to any other, and 

 may very well be stationed at the end, as a genus waiting for the discovery of com- 

 panions which may be better suited to indicate its true station. 



Chiefly natives of the north of Asia, Europe, and North America, and scarcely known 

 in the hot regions of the world. In the meadows, fields, and forests of the countries 

 they inhabit, they constitute the most striking ornament. Some curious species are 

 found in the Canaries, St. Helena, and Juan Fernandez. Alphonse De Candolle 

 remarks, that "it is within 36° and 47° N. lat. that in our hemisphere the greatest 

 number of species is found ; the chain of the Alps, Italy, Greece, Caucasus, the Altai 

 range, are then- true country. In whatever direction we leave these limits, the number 

 of species rapidly decreases. In the southern hemisphere, the Cape of Good Hope 

 (lat. 34° S.) is another centre of habitation, containing not fewer than 63 species. This 



Fig. CCCCLXIV. — Stamen and pistil of Campanula Medium. 





