ON CERTAIN EP1GYNOUS MONOCOTYLEDONS. 159 



stamen should stand here, and it makes its appearance in this 

 place very frequently in abnormal flowers. The female flowers 

 do not differ from the male in shape, except in the different 

 degree of development of the sexual organs. 



The very young flower of Musa sapientum presents itself first 

 as a little flattened corpuscle, on which, shortly after its develop- 

 ment, the first trace of a division is exhibited on the side next 

 the axis, as a kind of furrow or rather a transparent line. A 

 little later this furrow becomes deeper, and a second appears on 

 the side next the bract, towards the top, the true apex of the 

 bud, which furrow runs all round the latter. From the part of 

 the flower lying outside this furrow are formed those five organs 

 of the flower subsequently coherent together, of which the inner 

 two petals do not become visible until after a certain interval ; 

 the inner free petal and the five stamens with the pistil are then 

 subsequently produced from the mass surrounded by the furrow. 

 By degrees the points are developed on the upper and outer 

 sides of the perigonial organs, as they appear in the full-grown 

 flower. From the central mass, as just stated, the stamens and 

 the inner perigonial leaf appear simultaneously and form one 

 circle. But the development of those stamens which stand be- 

 fore the outer petals advances much more rapidly for some time, 

 and even in the opened flower they are still somewhat larger 

 than the others. The pistil makes its appearance at a compa- 

 ratively late period, but I could only investigate this point in 

 what are called male flowers. 



In Musa rosacea, which is cultivated in the botanic garden 

 here, the development of the perigonial organs takes place in a 

 somewhat different manner. The five segments of the flower 

 appear simultaneously, and are uniformly developed, so that 

 they cannot lie one upon another in the same way in the cohe- 

 rent flower. Moreover, the pistil here presents itself from the 

 first trifid, just as it appears in the full-grown flower, while in 

 Musa sapientum it originates simple and remains so. 



Musa sapientum exhibits a multitude of interesting malforma- 

 tions, agreeing in this respect with most of the old cultivated 

 plants. The following includes those which I have had the op- 

 portunity of observing : 



