8 



PRINCIPLES OF PI.ANT-TERATOLOGV. 



tions left on the axis (fig. 62). It is a common occur- 

 rence in the " doiible " form of Arahis alhida. 



A less pronounced type of proliferation is that in 

 which the floral axis is, not necessarily less extended, 

 but less independent and differentiated after growing 

 beyond the confines of the normal flower. In the 

 above-cited cases we see a new flower-bearing axis 

 arising out of the first ; but in those about to be 

 mentioned the extended axis is part of the normal 



flower. In a columbine [Aqui- 

 legia) the floral axis was con- 

 siderably elongated, forming a 

 naked length, beyon(J which it 

 bore several carpels of modified 

 form and coloration. In the 

 Kew Herbaruim some specimens 

 of Brassica eampestris, collected 

 by Aitchison in Kashmere, were 

 seen in which the flowers, other- 

 wise normal, had developed a 

 gynophore which was often as 

 much as two inches long. This is 

 a particularly interesting pheno- 

 menon in view of the fact that in 

 the closely allied order Cappari- 

 dacese this structure is a perfectly 

 normal feature.* But this ab- 

 normality becomes less astonish- 

 ing when we find that in Diplotaxis Harra, a member 

 of the Cruciferse, a long gynophore is present as a 

 normal feature. 



But a combination of the two conditions may fre- 

 quently occur. Some flowers of water-avens {Qeiim 

 rivale) nearly all proliferated to form a second flower ; 

 in one flower all the carpels had become transformed 

 into small purplish lanceolate leaves spirally arranged 

 in great numbers to form the calyxf and involucre 



* St. Hilaire's law agaijl. -:',•■■ 



+ The utilization of the ovary of the primary flower for the calyx of the 



/ 



FiQ. 62, — Cheiranthus Cheiri 

 (Wallflower). Continuous 

 proliferation of floral axis 

 to form a concatenation of 

 seven flowers. (Diagram- 

 matic.) 



