PROLIFICATION OF THE FLOWER. 139 
interior of the flower, or from the inflorescence beneath 
the flower. 
The accessory bud presents itself as a leaf-bud, a 
branch, a flower-bud, or a miniature inflorescence ; 
it may be sessile, but is far more frequently stalked, 
and in more than half the number of cases it is a flower- 
bud or an inflorescence. ‘There may be one or more 
of these buds; if two only, then they are usually 
placed directly opposite one to the other, on the 
opposite sides of the flower. 
It will be seen, from the appended list, that the 
orders and genera in which this description of adventi- 
tious growth occurs most frequently are the following : 
—Crucifere, especially the genus Brassica; Caryo- 
phyllacee, e.g. Dianthus; fesedacee; Leguminose, 
e.g. Melilotus, Trifolium, &c.; Rosacew, e.g. Rosa, 
Potentilla, &c.; Umbellifere, and Campanulacee. 
For the most part, these are groups also peculiarly 
hable to central prolification. 
All the parts of the flower may be thus affected ; 
but, as might have been anticipated from the folia- 
ceous nature of the sepals, the new bud usually 
arises from within the aml of one of those organs. 
Next in frequency to the calyx, the pistil is subjected 
to this change—the carpels in such a case being dis- 
united and leaf-lke. The petals rank next, and 
lastly the stamens; these latter, indeed, are usually, 
but not invariably, absent, the new growth occupying 
their position. Hence it may well be that when such 
is the case, there is no real axillary prolification, but 
rather the substitution of a bud for a stamen. Gene- 
rally, however, the position of the accessory bud is 
such that it may properly be referred to the axil of 
an undeveloped or rudimentary stamen. 
The largest number of instances of this malforma- 
tion, not merely generically, but also mdividually, 
occurs in plants the members of whose floral whorls 
are not united one to the other; thus, it is far more 
common in polypetalous plants than im gamopetalous 
