Polycephalic Poppies 375 



the central ovary, and on the other hand some 

 rudiments of hardened filaments were always 

 left, even if they were reduced to small pro- 

 tuberances on the thalamus of the flower. 



Between these extremes all grades occur. 

 From single, partially or wholly changed 

 stamens upwards to 150 and over, all steps may 

 be seen. It is a true fluctuating variability. 

 There is an average of between 50 and 100, con- 

 stituting a nearly filled crown around the cen- 

 tral capsule. Around this average the smaller 

 deviations are most numerous and the larger 

 ones more rare. The inspection of any bed of 

 the variety suffices to show that, taken broadly, 

 the ordinary laws of fluctuating variability are 

 applicable. No counting of the single individ- 

 uals is required to dispel all doubts on this 

 point. 



Moreover all intermediate steps respecting 

 the conversion of the single stamens may nearly 

 always be seen. Barely all are changed into 

 normal secondary ovaries with a stigma and 

 with a cavity filled with ovules. Often the 

 stigma is incomplete or even almost wanting, in 

 other instances the ovules are lacking or the 

 cavity itself is only partially developed. Not 

 rarely some stamens are reduced and converted 

 into thin hard stalks, without any appearance of 

 an ovary at their tip. But then the demar- 



