Art. I.— -On, some Remarkable Changes which have taken 

 place in the Flowers of the Plantago Major. By Thomas 

 Shearman Ralph, M.R.C.S., Assoc. Linn. Soc. Loud. 



[Read2nd May, 1861.] 



The observations I have to make this evening, refer to 

 some remarkable changes which have taken place in the 

 flowers of the Plantago Major, and which, as far as I can 

 learn, have never been noticed to occur in this plant, 

 although changes like these are frequent in the common rose, 

 and have been met with also in many other kinds of plants. 



The changes to which I refer are well known to the 

 physiological botanist, and present him with many inte- 

 resting confirmations of what is known and acknowledged 

 as to the morphological origin of the parts of the plant com- 

 posing the flower. 



All who are in the habit of enjoying an ordinary acquaint- 

 ance with flowers, are well aware of the existence and value 

 in some respects of what are termed double flowers, — plants 

 in which flowers are produced possessing double sets of 

 petals, in place of a few, say four or five, the remaining 

 organs of the flower being converted into petals and no seeds 

 yielded by the specimen. Now these changes are carried on 

 still further in some plants, and are useful in confirming the 

 theories which are held relative to the nature of the different 

 parts of the flower, i.e., that all may be regarded as so many 

 modified leaves arranged according to certain laws around 

 the stem. 



In order that I may be better understood, I will first intro- 

 duce the plant to your notice as it commonly occurs. It is 

 termed the Plantain or rib-grass, and is a common plant in 

 Great Britain. It possesses large leaves placed in a rosette 

 on the ground, these being marked with strong ribs from the 

 centre, the flower stem rising to a height of several inches, 

 bearing at its top a cone of small flowers, which, when 

 fully ripened, form seed vessels placed at a distance from each 



B 



