Observations on depriving Flowers of their Anthers. 47 



four. No stamen, or rudiment of the germ, was discovered in the 

 centre of the flower. The following are the most interesting re- 

 marks on the subject. 



1. To succeed in these experiments, you must cut out the anthers 

 from the closed flower, when they are almost formed, but have not yet 

 spread out the pollen. The Gillyflower (Cheiranthus annuus) suc- 

 ceeded in the best manner, just when the petals were about 0^-4/" 

 (linese Parisienses) long, already a little colored, but still closed and 

 folded; the petals must very cautiously be opened with a pincette, 

 and the anthers taken out. 



2. If you cut off the anthers when the pollen is already spread out 

 in some measure, then large and perfect pods are produced, but the 

 single flowers are mingled with double ones. 



3. If you take them before the anthers are formed, and the petals 

 still colorless, or only whitish green, and about 1-1^^'' (Paris meas- 

 ure) in length, standing out of the calyx, then no seed at all is pro- 

 duced, and the germ after some time drops off sterile. This obser- 

 vation proves that the fructification must be according to the former 

 method certain, though imperfect. 



4. If you observe the further growth of the pods of such deprived 

 flowers, you will remark, that they grow less regular than natural 

 ones; they thicken and swell up, sometimes on the upper more than 

 on the under part ; they are generally shorter than usual, and vary 

 very much in size on the same plant. 



5. In the state of maturity, you find less seeds in pods of mutila- 

 ted flowers than in those not so. We find the seeds sometimes only 

 attached to one side, the other side of the dissepiment being empty; 

 single pods contained from five to seven seeds, when natural ones 

 had from forty six to fifty. 



6. The single seeds are sometimes smaller, sometimes more or 

 less curved, and imperfect: the weight of one thousand ordinary 

 seeds of the Gillyflower, in a dry state, attached for ten months to 

 the dissepiment, was in the month of July 26 grains. One seed 

 had a weight of about .026 gr. or near to 3^ gr. The same num- 

 ber of seeds from double flowers was 22 to 24 grains ; single seed, 

 — — to -*— or. 



7. We observed sometimes, in natural pods of the Cheiranthus 

 annuus, curved and imperfect seeds, which produced double flow- 

 ers also. 



