COROLLA. 397 
of sepals is not a very common occurrence among 
dicotyledonous plants. Sermge figures a proliferous 
flower of Arabis alpina with two sepals only, and a 
similar occurrence has been noticed in Diplotaxis tenwi- 
folia. 
In Cattleya violacea the writer has met with a flower 
in which the uppermost sepal was entirely wanting, 
while two of the lateral petals were fused together. 
Moquin records that in some of the flowers of Cheno- 
podiacee, in which the inflorescence is dense, a suppres- 
sion of two or three sepals sometimes occurs. The 
species mentioned are Ambrina ambrosiodes, Chenopodium 
glaucum, and Blitum polymorphum. 
Meiophylly of the corolla—Suppression of one or more 
petals is of more frequent occurrence than the corres- 
ponding deficiency in the case of the sepals. Among 
Caryophyllacee imperfection as regards the numerical — 
symmetry of the flower is not uncommon, as in species 
of Cerastiwm, Sagina, Dianthus, &e. In Ranunculacece 
the petals are likewise not unfrequently partially or 
wholly suppressed. A familiar illustration of this is 
afforded by Ranunculus auricomus, in which it is the 
exception to find the corolla perfect." Some varieties 
of Corchorus acutangulus 1 west tropical Africa are 
likewise subject to the same peculiarity. Amongst 
Papilionacee absence of the carima or of the alee is not 
uncommon, as in Tvifoliwm repens, Faba vulgaris, &e. 
Moquin relates a case of the kind in the haricot 
bean, in which the cara was entirely absent, and 
another in the pea, where both carina and al were 
missing, thus reducing the flower to the condition that 
is normal in Amorpha and Afzelia. Suppression of the 
upper lip in such flowers as Calceolaria has been termed — 
by Morren “ apilary.”’ 
1 De Rochebrune, ‘ Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr.,’ ix, p. 281. The author points 
out seven grades between complete absence of petals and their presence 
in the normal number in this plant. See also Gaudin, in ‘Koch. FI. 
Helv. ;? Koch. ‘Synops. Fl. Germ. ;? Cramer, ‘ Bildungsabweich,’ p. 85. 
