STRUCTURE OF FLOWERS. 123 



has given a description of Scabiosa columbaria, the fila- 

 ments of which were thick and herbaceous, and the 

 anthers were changed into a small green leaf, of which 

 the filament was the petiole. Therefore all the floral 

 organs are only verticils of leaves in a particular state. 



We shall presently revert to this theory and its con- 

 sequences ; let us confine ourselves at present to the 

 observation, that the leaves which surround or form the 

 flower may present themselves in a foliaceous or in a 

 petaloid state, and that, although each of them has a 

 greater tendency to one of the states, it can, notwith- 

 standing, pass into the other from causes unknown to 

 us. These two states seem rather physiological pheno- 

 mena than truly anatomical differences. The foliaceous 

 state is that in which these organs serve for the nutri- 

 tion ; the petaloid has a more or less energetical tendency 

 to approach the sexual organs. Let us observe in con- 

 clusion that the state of verticils, of which the flower, or 

 even the inflorescence is composed, is generally modified 

 in regular succession. Thus, the bracts only become 

 petaloid when the calyces are likewise so ; the stamens 

 become foliaceous only when the petals have passed into 

 that state, &c. 



Section XVII. 



Of the particular Analogy between the Male and Female 

 Organs of Floivers. 



The facts contained in the preceding section have 

 already proved that there is a great analogy between the 

 different parts of the flowers ; if we pursue this kind of 



