38 ADHESION. 
parts of one or both flowers. Occasionally this union 
is carried to such an extent that a bloom appears 
to be single, when it is, in reality, composed of two or 
more, the parts of which have become not only fused, 
but, as it were, thrust into and completely incorpo- 
rated one with another, and in such a manner as to 
occupy the place of some parts of the flower which have 
been suppressed. It must not be overlooked that this 
adhesion of one flower to another is a very common 
occurrence under natural circumstances, as in Lonicera, 
in the common tomato, in Pomar, Opercularia, Symphyo- 
myrtus, &c., while the large size of some of the culti- 
vated sunflowers is in like manner due to the union 
of two or more flower-heads. 
One of the simplest instances of synanthy is that 
mentioned by M. Duchartre,' in which two flowers of 
a hyacinth were united together simply by means of 
two seoments of the peri ianth one from each flower. 
A similar occurrence has been cited by M. Gay in 
Narcissus chrysanthus. In like manner the blossoms of 
Fuchsias or Loniceras occasionally become adherent 
merely by their surface, without mvolving any other 
change in the conformation of the flowers. °M. Maugin 
alludes to a case of this kind in Aristolochia Clematitis.’ 
But it is more usual for some of the organs to be 
suppressed, so that the number of existing parts is less 
than would be the case in two or more uncombined 
flowers. <A few illustrations will exemplify this. In 
two flowers of Matthiola incana, that I observed 
to be jomed together, there were eight sepals, eight 
petals, and ten perfect stamens, eight long and two 
short, instead of twelve. Closer examination showed 
that the point of union between the two flowers occurred 
just where, under ordinary circumstances, the two 
short stamens would be. In this instance but Little 
suppression had occurred. In similar flowers of Nar- 
cissus tncomparabilis | remarked a ten-parted perianth, 
1 * Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr.,’ 1861, p. 159. 
* Thid., 1859, p. 467. 
