JRANUNCULACE.¥]. 



Er \ 



stamens are fertile ; but within and above them are ten others which 

 are sterile and reduced to flattened scales, of which five are opposite 

 to the sepals, and five to the petals. 

 These daminode8 are inserted imme- 

 diately below the gynceceiua or 7;/.?^//. 

 This is composed of five' carpels {&), 

 which are opposite the petals, as shown 

 in the diagram'- (fig. 2). The whole 

 of the lower portion of each carpel 

 is hollow, and the cavity contains a 

 large number of little whitish bodies 

 — the ovules or future seeds of the 

 plant. The carpels do not cohere at 

 all, and as they are also placed above 

 all the other floral organs we have 

 studied, we describe them as free 

 and superior. 



As yet we have only considered 

 the number of appendages thus stationed in ranks on the floral 

 receptacle of the Columbine, and the relative positions of the 

 various organs one to another. But we have, and not without 

 good reason, hardly taken into account either form, size, or colour ; 

 for external circumstances, such as the aspect of the ground, the 

 chemical composition and moisture of the soil, the use of manure, 

 the style of cultivation, and many other causes often unperceived, 

 may bring about indefinite variations in these characters, which are 

 of quite secondary importance. 



Thus the sepals are sometimes greenish, but fir more often 

 coloured. The petals assume at times the form of small, expanded, 

 flattened blades, like the sepals ; but they often have near the base 

 a decurrent spur, lined towards its apex with a glandular tissue 

 which secretes a sweet juice or nectar. The petal has then the 

 general appearance of a cornet.' The stamen generally possesses, as 



\- 1 



Aquilegia vulgaris. 

 Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5- 



Stamen Stamen Gynajceum & 



dehiscing. completely starainodes. 



opened. 



' The normal number; but in cultivated 

 plants we often find more numerous carpels, 

 sometimes arranged in a single whorl, sometimes 

 in an inner and an outer division. A. 'pijrenaica 

 DC. has sometimes ten carpels, five outside and 

 five inside exactly alternate with these. 



2 RcKPEK considers that the i)osition of the 

 carpels depends on the number of staminal ver- 



ticils, so that if these he odd, the carpels aro 

 opposite the petal; if even, opposite the sepals. 



•■* There are, among others, .tpcrred Colum- 

 bines and starred Columbines, and in these Inst 

 the petals are Hattened, coloin-od leaves. As 

 the metamorphosed stamens may equally pre- 

 sent these modifications, we may have double 

 spurred or double starred Columbines. Toi'knk- 



n '2 



