Harris — Polygamy and Certain Floral Abnormalities. 193 



and figured in The Botanical Register,* the parts of the de- 

 scription concerning us in the present connection being: 

 ** Flos primarius cujusque racemi solus hermaphroditus, cae- 

 teri masculi. Cal. * * * jn hermaph. cum pedicello 

 echinatus, (fructu simul excrescens?) : in mare inermis atque 

 cadens cum corolla. * * * Anth. flavae, subsessiles 

 contiguae, declinatae; in ma- 

 ribus inaequalissimae, 3 imis 

 maximis corniformibus arcu- 

 atis parallelis corolla paulo 

 brevioribus: in hermaph. pa- 

 rum inaequales, * * *. 

 Flos masculus nondum ex- 

 pansus refert papilionaceum 

 non apertum." ** The corolla 

 of both flowers is irregular, 

 but that of the barren one 

 more conspicuously so, the 

 angles or segments being sep- 

 arated by a much deeper 

 sinus than in the fertile one." 



In Curtis's Botanical Magazine f the species is described 

 as Nycterium Amazonium. *'The upper flowers in the 

 corymb are generally male, and, consequently, sterile, the 

 lowermost hermaphrodite and fertile ; of the latter, only the 

 calyx is covered with straight, sharp prickles, that of the 

 male is altogether unarmed. * * * Anthers unequal, 

 declined : in the male flowers generally three long and two 

 short, in the hermaphrodite two long and three short, or 

 frequently all nearly equal. * * * In the male flowers, 

 style and stigma defective." 



LoddigesJ mentions the thorny calyx of the *' fruitful 

 flowers, which are usually the- lowest." Nees ab Esenbeck,§ 

 does not mention the polygamous inflorescence of this species. 



Floral details of Solanum Ama- 

 zonium. — Edwards. 



* Edwards. The Botanical Register, I, PZ. 71. 1815. 



t 42. PL 1801. 1815. 



X Loddiges and Sons. The Botanical Cabinet. 4. no. 352. London. 1819. 



§ Nees ab Esenbeck. Horae Physicae Berolinenses. 1820. p. 51. pi. 9. 



