THE EVOLUTION OF THE FLOWER 



1045 



may be the origin of the 

 specialised male and fe- 

 male organs of the plant. 

 As we have seen, both 

 the sepals and petals of 

 the flower show a more 

 or less striking resem- 

 blance to the foliage of 

 the plant, but one can 

 scarcely say that there 

 is much obvious connec- 

 tion between stamens, 

 pistil, and leaf. None 

 the less is it a fact which 

 can be easily demon- 

 strated that the leaf was 

 the ancestor of even the 

 reproductive organs 

 themselves. In this con- 

 nection the case of the 

 so-called "double" 

 flowers is very instruc- 

 tive. Here we see that 

 the peculiarity of the 

 blossom consists in a 

 great increase in the 

 number of petals, and 

 these organs must have 

 had their origin in some- 

 thing ; as a matter of 

 fact, they are degenerate 

 stamens. The manner 

 in which this change of 

 stamens into petals takes 

 place may be often well 

 seen in the case of Be- 

 gonias. It has been 

 found to be almost im- 

 possible to establish an 

 entirely double strain of 

 these flowers owing to 

 a strong tendency to 

 revert to a single condi- 

 tion. Very commonly 

 blossoms are to be found in a curious 

 midway stage between the double and 

 single condition, and when this is the 

 case an interesting sidelight as to the 

 connection between stamens and ])etals 

 is to be seen. Some of the abnormal 

 organs then produced are simj^ly flattened 

 stamens, very much like miniature petals 

 save that the extremity is covered with 

 a deposit of poUen. In other cases there 

 is no pollen at all, and the process 

 is formed of coloured tissue, being in 



\K SNOWFLAKE, SHOWING GREEN TIPS ON Fl.OWhKS. 



fact a perfect petal on a miniature 

 scale. 



Probably one of the most remarkable 

 object lessons to be found in the vegetable 

 world bearing on the origin of stamens is 

 to be found in the case of the flower of the 

 White Water Lily (Nyinf^lucu alba). If a 

 well-devel()]ied s])ecimen is secured and 

 carefully dissected, it is ])ossible to sort 

 out a most instructive series of organs illus- 

 trating the stages between the perfect jietal 

 and the normal stamen. Commencing 



