of tJte Aquilcgia vulgaris. 3 



and those \yliich bear the name of AquUegia 7riiJyaris ecaJ- 

 carata or steUata, in which, according to these authors, the 

 ])etals proceed from modified staminal filaments without an- 

 thers — these varieties had been already described by Clusius, 

 Dodoens and L'Obel*. IMoreover, these authors, besides 

 the simple, semi-double and double varieties of these two 

 principal forms (true sub-varieties which we still possess), 

 also mention Columbines with inverted flowers [AquiUia fiore 

 inverso variegato). We might suppose, from the Dodonfiean 

 context, that it was hereby understood that the flowers, in- 

 stead of being pendent, were upright "tilC HiCt Z\\ tiCf- 



0cl)iUcn ban Dc aiiDrr ^m\ Dat De lilocmeix alicvccljrci 



0tticn." But we know that in this variety, the bases of the 

 spurs being twisted, the spur itself has an upwai'd direction. 



We cannot but take an interest in observing the pleasures 

 of the horticulturists of those times. Now-a-days these Co- 

 lumbines are treated with disregard, and dismissed as fit only 

 for the garden of the cottager or village Cure, or, at most, 

 are only permitted to grow in the shade of some forgotten nook 

 of our villas ; but let us not say too much : fashion, which revives 

 all antiquated things, may some day assert its claim upon 

 these Columbines of the Castels. Already in the Botanic Gar- 

 den at Brussels, w^e have seen pretty borders entirely filled 

 with this plant of the middle ages. 



The Columbine is really a very interesting flower, on ac- 

 count of its nectaries ; and their genesis not being known, at 

 least so far as we ai'e aware, we have taken them as the prin- 

 cipal subject of our researches : our object has been to study 

 them comparatively in the difierent varieties of the common 

 species, and in some other species which we had at hand ; se- 

 condly, to observe the monstrous structures ; thirdly, to take 

 them at their different degrees of evolution, in order to esta- 

 blish their true genesis ; and, lastly, to examine their histo- 

 logy, so as to ascertain how in their forms so varied the in- 

 terior tissues were affected. 



So long as the laws of metamorphoses had not acquired 

 the right of citizenship in the domains of science, calcariform 

 nectaries had to be considered as special pieces, born ad hoc, 

 and being such by their proper nature, without an anterior 

 nature, without a type from which they were derived. Although 

 Linnceus had said, "Si nectarium a petalis distinctum, coin- 

 muniter ludit ;'' he also said, '' distincta esse nectaria a corolla 

 constat exemjjJis : Aconitum, AquUegia" &c.t. — They were, 

 then, the floral pieces whose secretion of honey determined 



* Dodoens. Cruydt-Boek, 1644, p. 274. 

 \ Linnsei Philosophia Botanica : Fructificatio i. 110. 

 B 2 



