55 



inence to individual variations in connection with the genesis of 

 species, and the study of such variations becomes significantly- 

 important. 



On a headland of Lake Champlain, the writer has discovered 

 most interesting variations of our two species of Hepatica. 

 While the divergence from the normal was mainly in the defi- 

 nite direction of increase in the number of leaf lobes, it was the 

 anomalous and unexpected forms that roused the greatest in- 

 terest and presented the greatest problem. These aberrant 

 forms seemed like the capricious expression of superabundant 

 spirits, and might have been partly due to energy and material 

 left free by the absence of seed-formation. Rich and abundant 

 nutriment was another factor, producing many large leaves. 

 However fantastic or grotesque was the configuration of the 

 leaf, it retained the characteristic texture and style of venation. 

 Many leaves were flat, thin, broad, and sometimes glabrous ; 

 others were thick and puckered along the edges. In many cases 

 there was no sinus at the insertion of leaf on petiole, showing 

 such contrasting modes of insertion as are exhibited by Figs. 13 

 and 41. Position and prominence of the sinuses and number 

 and relative size of lobes gave each leaf its peculiar shape. 

 Broad and shallow sinus, deep and narrow cleft, lobes well 

 separated or overlapping, broad and rounded or long and 

 pointed, gave seemingly inexhaustible variety of interesting con- 

 tours, ranging from reniform and indistinctly lobed leaves, two- 

 to nine-lobed, two- and three-parted leaves, those with lobes 

 metamorphosed into leaflets, to monstrous forms whose profiles 

 gave caricatures of faces. The novelty of the odd shapes gave 

 entertainment, while leaves like Figs. 33 and 36 pleased the eye 

 by bilateral symmetry. 



Over five hundred leaves, presenting a bewildering diversity of 

 forms, were collected and mounted for deposit in the herbarium 

 of the University of Vermont. With such an embarrassment of 

 riches, it has been no light task to choose for reproduction the 

 few that could be presented with this paper. It was deemed 

 worth the trouble to present the venation of each leaf in order to 

 depict its relation to the contour. Each figure is an approximate 



