NATURAL HISTORY OF PL.1NTS. 



sepalous calyx and polypetalous corolla, an indefinite number of 

 stamens, and a di- or tri-carpellary pistil. There are five sepals 

 qnincuncially imbricated in the bud, and as man}^ petals' ofTering the 

 exceptional character of opposition to the sepals. The stamens are 

 hypogynous and unequal, with the filament free and dilated at the 

 tip below the insertion of the basifixed anther into two small lateral 

 projections. The anther is bilocular, introrse, 

 dehiscing by two longitudinal clefts, of which 

 the outer lips turn sharply backwards after dehis- 

 cence. The stamens are arranged in eight radiating 

 rows, each row containing but a very small number.' 

 Each carpel is composed of a unilocular ovary sur- 

 mounted by a short style, grooved longitudinally 

 on the inside, while at the summit the margins of 

 the groove turn somewhat outwards and are covered 

 with stigmatic papillae. 



We notice within each ovary, which is united below to its neigh- 

 bours, a parietal placenta, ventrally 

 placed over a variable extent of the inner 

 angle,^ and bearing two rows of nearly 

 horizontal anatropous ovules, with the 

 raphes of those of each row adjacent to 

 those of the other.^ The pistils become 

 as many follicles (figs. 18, 19), co- 

 hering for a variable height, and opening 

 at the inner angle to free the seeds, 

 which contain a small embryo near the 



Nigella Oaridella. 

 Fig. 17. 

 Diagram. 



Prodr., i. 48.— Spaoh, Stiit. a Bvff., vii, 300 — 

 Endl., Gen., n. 4793.— B. H., Gen., 8, n. 22. 



* Tliese petals have a singular form. The 

 claw is surmounted by a bifid fork-like limb, the 

 inner surface of which is covered with clavate 

 papilla); and where this joins the claw is a necta- 

 riferous depression, the bottom of which is lined 

 by a yellowish glandular tissue, and which is 

 partly closed at its entry by a vertical acute scale, 

 also bearing on its inner surface pedicellate pa- 

 pilla). The singular form of these petals, aiul 

 especially their position in front of the sepals, lead 

 us to consider that j)erhaps they do not represent 

 the elements of a corolla, but the outer stamens 

 transformed into staminodes {Adansonla, iv. 

 20). — We have observed stamens in Garidella, 

 which had on one side a fertile anther cell, and 

 on the other a petaloid blade covered with papilla;. 



2 There may be even only one or two in each 

 row. But their arrangement is exactly the same 

 as in the other Nicjellce. Payer has also re- 

 m:\r\ied{Orffanog., 249) that the order of appear- 

 ance of the eight inferior stamens of Garidella is 

 the same as that of the eight petals of the 

 Nigellae. 



^ To be more exact we must, no donbt, say, 

 that the carpels of Garidella are free, but that 

 tiieir bases are much extended obliquely, and are 

 inserted on the three upper faces of a fairly 

 elevated tetrahedron when they are three in 

 number, and on the faces of a sort of acute pro- 

 jecting wedge when there are only two. The 

 same observation applies to the other Nigella, as 

 we have already indicated {Adansonia, iv. 21). 



■• They have two envelopes. 



