306 GrNO-DI(ECIOUS PLANTS. Chap. VH 



the abortion of the stamens can hardly be due to the dry- 

 ness of the sites where the plants grew, as I at one time 

 thought probable. Seeds from an hermaphrodite were 

 sown in my garden, and of the 23 seedlings raised, one 

 belonged to the intermediate form, all the others being 

 hermaphrodites, though two or three of them had unusu- 

 ally short stamens. ' I have consulted several botanical 

 works, but have found no record of this plant varying in 

 the manner here described. 



Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginese). — Delpino states 

 that this plant presents in Italy three forms, which gradu- 

 ate from an anemophilous into an entomophilous condi- 

 tion. According to H. Miiller,* there are only two forms 

 in Germany, neither of which show any special adaptation 

 for insect fertilisation, and both appear to be hermaphro- 

 dites. But I have found in two localities in England fe- 

 male and hermaphrodite forms existing together ; and the 

 same fact has been noticed by others.f The females are 

 less frequent than the hermaphrodites; their stamens are 

 short, and their anthers, which are of a brighter green 

 whilst young than those of the other form, dehisce properly, 

 yet contain either no pollen, or a small amount of imperfect 

 grains of variable size. All the flower-heads on a plant 

 belong to the same form. It is well known that this species 

 is strongly proterogynous, and I found that the protruding 

 stigmas of both the hermaphrodite and female flowers were 

 penetrated by pollen-tubes, whilst their own anthers were 

 immature and had not escaped out of the bud. Plantago 

 media does not present two forms; but it appears from 

 Asa Gray's description,^ that such is the case with four 

 of the North American species. The corolla does not prop- 

 erly expand in the short-stamened form of these plants. 



Cnicua Serratula Eriophorum. — ^In the Gompositse, 

 Cnicus palustris and acaulis are said by Sir J. E. Smith 

 to exist as hermaphrodites and females, the former being 

 the more frequent. With Serratula tinctoria a regular 

 gradation may be followed from the hermaphrodite to the 



* ' Die Befrnchtung,' &c., p. 342. N. United States,' 2nd edit. 1856, 

 t Mr. C. W. Crocker in ' The p. 269. See also ' American Jour- 

 Gardener's Chronicle,' 1864, p. 294. nal of Science,' Nov. 1862. p. 419, 

 Mr. W. MaiBhall writes to me to and ' Proc. American Academy oi 

 the same effect from Ely. Science,' Oct. 14, 1862, p. 53. 

 t ' Manual of the Botany of the 



