318 HETEROMORPHY. 
M. Moquin-Tandon' alludes to a case of this kind in a 
species of pine (Pinus), in which a branch ended in 
four unequal divisions, which were strongly curved 
from without inwards, then became united in pairs, 
these latter in their turn blending into a single mass. 
In the case of some beeches growing in the forest 
of Verzy, near Rheims, the trunks of the trees are con- 
torted in every direction, and, at a height of from 
fifteen to twenty feet, a number of branches are also 
given off, also much contorted, and occasionally inter- 
grafted, so that it seems as if a heavy weight had 
been placed on the trees and literally flattened them. 
Similar malformations may occasionally be met with 
in the branches of the oak, and commonly in the weep- 
ing ash. 
M. Fournier*® mentions the stems of Ituscus aculeatus 
rolled in a circle, others twisted spirally. 
The phenomenon is not confined to woody plants, 
but has been met with in chicory, in Antirrhinum, and 
other herbaceous species. 
It is very difficult in some cases to separate these 
instances of irregular torsion from those in which the 
twisting takes place in a more or less regular spiral 
direction. In the former case the fibres of the plant 
are only indirectly involved, but in the latter the 
fibres themselves are coiled spirally from right to left, 
or vice versdé (spiral torsion), while not unfrequently 
both conditions may be met with at the same time. 
The leaves also are subject to similar deformities, 
of which a notable illustration has been recorded in 
the case of the date palm, Phanix dactylifera, origi- 
nally observed by Goethe, and figured and described by 
Jaeger ;*> the leaves are folded and twisted in every 
direction, in consequence of the fibrous band or cord 
which surrounds the leaves, and which generally breaks 
1 «Bull. Soc. Bot. France,’ t. vii, 1860, p. 877. 
2 Thid., t. iv, 1857, p. 759. 
3 Jaeger, “ De monstrosa folii Phanicis dactylifere conformatione a 
Goetheo olim observata,” ‘ Act. Acad. Leop. Car. Nat. Cur.,’ vol. xvii, 
suppl., p. 293, ¢. tab. color. iv. 
