A464 ABORTION OF THE 
atrophied, and distorted, and contained little or no 
pollen; the few grains of the latter being smaller than 
usual. (See under Heterogamy, pp. 193—196, and 
p- 398.) 
Abortion of the pistil, fruit, &e.—Traces of the carpels 
occur in many male flowers of unisexual plants, e. g. 
Sterculiacee, Huphorbiacee, Restiacew, &c. &c., and in 
some natural orders there appears to be a tendency 
towards a dioecious condition, e.g. Caryophyllee, as in 
Iychnis dioica, Silene otites, Arenaria tetraquetra, Xe. 
The last-named plant is stated to have, in some cases, 
imperfect pistils; in others, rudimentary stamens ; 
while a third set of flowers are hermaphrodite.’ The 
ovary of aconites, according to Moquin, is very subject 
to atrophy. 

W A 2 Cie, 
Ws SS | A 
UN 
Fic. 218.—Bladder plum. 
During the maturation of the pistil, and its passage 
to the fruit, great changes of consistence frequently 
1 Gay, ‘Ann. Se. Nat.,’ ser. i, 1824, t. ii, p. 44. 
