282 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



receptacle is hollow like a purse, and only open at the top. At a 

 certain height on the outer surface of this sac, we find two opposite 

 bracts, then, higher up, two others also opposite or nearly so, and 

 finally near the margins of the aperture an indefinite number of 

 alternate leaves arranged in a continuous spiral,' crowded closer 



Calycanthvs IcBvigatvs. 



'mm 



Fig. 311. 

 Longitudinal section of fruit. 



together, better developed, and more imbricated as their insertion 

 is higher up. The lower ones are greenish, like the above-mentioned 

 opposite bracts, and the uppermost are brownish purple, fleshy, 

 velvety, and scented like petals, without its being possible to draw 

 any exact line of demarcation between them. The edge of the 

 receptacle then becomes thickened to form a platform covering 

 in its cavity, only presenting a small central orifice for the 

 styles to pass through. On the out^^ide of this lid are inserted 



2. iii. 282.— CrRT., Bot. Marf., t. 503. — Nutt., 

 Gen. Amer., i. 312.— GtriMP.,\466. IIolz.,t. 4.— 

 DC, loc. cit., n. l.—C. laviyatus W., Ilori. 

 BeroL, t. 80. — C. oblonqlfolius NUTT., loc. cit.— 

 C. inodorus Ei.l-., Hkelch, i. ^Id.—C. fertUis , 

 Walt., Carol, Vo\.— C.ferax .MiCHX.,ff. Bor.- 

 Amer,, i. 305. — C. steritia Walt., loc. cit. — C. 

 glaucus W., loc. r(7,;— NuTT., loc. cit.; — 

 Ott. & Hayn., J[olz.,t. 5 (most authors consider 

 C. jloridus, glaucus, and lavigatus as distinct 

 species). 



' The index of tlieir angular divergence is ^.^, 

 so tliut the fourteenth is exactly Hui)Prposod to 

 the first ; of course it is the same with the 



stamens, two of which inside the rest are super- 

 posed to two others, whin there are 15 of them. 

 Hut their number varies slightly, cspmally from 

 12 to 15. So, too, with the otlier floral appen- 

 dages. Witiiin the decussate bracts we find from 

 It to 18 coloured loaves, and from 5 to 7 large 

 staminodcs exteriuil to the fertile stamens. L. V. 

 llUAVAls has pointed out {( uiigr. Scl. de Fr., 

 1811, 115) that in C. Jloridus and /eras there 

 are several of the decussate braits, and that 

 " from the last of these starts the floral spind, 

 which is sometimes simple, sometinies bijugate. 

 In the diflercnt pieces of the flower we meet 

 witli tlie spirals 5, 8, ami 13." 



