BANUNCULACE2E. 



21 



without the petals or nectaries (fig. 38) ; this is the only distinguish- 

 ing feature of Cakit/wcks,' a perennial herb of the eastern Himalayas. 



/ 



!^rf^jwy'~^Jy 





Trollius cMnensis. 

 Pig. 37. 

 Flower. 



Calathodes palmata. 

 Fig. 38. 



Flower. 



Ca/tha; too, has the apetalous flowers of Calathodes. Its perianth 

 consists of only five' petaloid sepals of quincuncial sestivation 

 (fig. 39). It has very numerous stamens with basifixed two-celled 



Fig. 39. 

 Flower. 



CuUha j^alusfris. Fig. 40. 



Longitudinal section of flower. 



extrorse anthers, and indefinite multiovulate carpels. It is therefore 

 simply a Trollius without the corolla or whorl of nectaries. The 

 organs of vegetation alone are affected by the medium the plants 

 inhabit, for they are aquatic, sometimes floating,' perennial herbs. 



' C. palmata (Hook. & Th., Fl. Ind., i. 40.— 

 Walp., Ann., iv. 29.— B. & H., Gen., 7, ii. 14.— 

 H. Bn., Adansonia, iv. 48) has the liabit of a 

 Trolliux, \vith the flowers of a Caltha. Tlic flowers 

 have four or five imbricated sepals, unequal sta- 

 mens with anthers dehiscing laterally (a little 

 extrorse), and a very variable number of carpels. 



- CaLlha L., Gen., n. 703. — Juss., Gen., 234. 



— Pers., Bnchir., ii. 107.— DC, Frodr., i. 44 



Endl., Gen., n. 4786.— Spacu, Suit, a Buff., 

 vii. 293.— B. IL, Gen., 6, n, 13.— II. Bn., Adan- 

 aonia, iv. 48. 



^ Their number is often greater, rarely re- 



duced to four. They persist in certain species, 

 but arc caducous in Pst/crophila. When there 

 are five, their aestivation is usually quin- 

 cuncial, but they may bo otherwise imbrieuted. 

 The flower often becomes double in C. pa- 

 hsiris (T., Inst., 273, t. 21). The stamens 

 are then converted into small imbricated petals, 

 while the receptacle is often deformed {Adan- 

 .lonia, iv. 5), and becomes concave, as in the 

 l'a;onies. 



■• C. naianit Pali,., Toi/., ed. min., iii. 248. — 

 DC, Frodr., i. 45, n. il.— T/iacla Jicarioides 

 Si'ACH, Suit, a Buff., vii. 295. 



