46 



been overlooked in E. propuUans, namely a remarkable varia- 

 bility with regard to the number of the perianth segments, 

 stamens and carpels. 



Of a total number of 51 flowers examined in detail only six had 

 six complete or norm_al perianth segments and only three of 

 these had the full complement of stamens. Three flowers had 

 five norm_al perianth segments and one of reduced size. There 

 were ele^'en flowers with five perianth segments and tweh-e with 

 five stamens. By far the largest num_ber of flowers, namely 

 thirty-one, had four perianth segments and there was a total of 

 thirty-four which had only four stamens. One flower had three 

 stamens and another one had only two. The following tabu- 

 lation shows the variations in a more graphic way: 



No. of perianth seg- 

 ments 615-1-1 ab- 

 normal 5 4 



No. of stamens. 6 5432 



No. of flowers 1 6 



3 1 II 131 



j 3 j 12 j 34 j I j i 



It is thus ob\-ious that only about 12 per cent, of the flowers 

 possess the full number of perianth parts and only about 6 per 

 cent, the full number of stamens. On the other hand about 61 

 per cent, of the flowers have only four perianth segments and 

 fully 67 per cent, have only four stamens. About 21 per cent, 

 of the flowers have five perianth parts and 23 per cent, have five 

 stamens. Where there are only four perianth segments and four 

 stamens each series is arranged in two alternating whorls of 

 two each, the two shorter stamens occupying the outer whorl. 

 In most cases where five perianth segments and five stamens are 

 present the suppression has occurred in the inner whorl of the 

 two respective series, thus leaving three short stamens and two 

 long (Fig. 2). In at least one case the reverse condition with re- 

 gard to the stamens was observed. 



In the typically trim.erous flowers the ovary is 3-celled but in 

 the flowers having onl\- four perianth parts and four stamens the 

 pistil is reduced to two carpels and the oxary is 2-celled. In the 

 flowers with five perianth parts and generally five stamens the 

 pistil is usually made up of three carpels with three cells in the 



