SIMPLIFICATION. 231 



Velenovsky figures a striking example in Ghaero- 

 phyllum Tainturiarii in which the umbels were com- 

 pletely sessile. 



There is an abnormal form of the oxlip {Primula 

 elatior) in which the flower-umbel is sessile ; and 

 another in which the long-stalked flowers arise inde- 

 pendently and separately from the leaf-axils ; but this 

 may be the result of hybridization with the primrose. 



In Umbelliferae, e. g. the caraway {Gariim Oarui), 

 and the great water-dropwort {(Enanthe crocata), the 

 secondary umbels are sometimes replaced in part by 

 single flowers ; it will be seen that in cases of this sort 

 an attempt is made to reproduce the condition which 

 occurs normally in such forms as AstrMitia and the 

 sea-holly {Eryngium). 



2. The Flower. — In some species of Primula, by 

 suppression of the flower-stalks, the umbellate is 

 replaced by a capitate inflorescence. 



A frequent variation is that in which stalked cones 

 become, like the flowers just mentioned, sessile, as in 

 the club-moss {Lycopodium clavatum). 



2. ADNATION. 



"Where floral axes a,re adnate to another axis, the 

 axillary branch of an inflorescence becomes concre- 

 scent for a longer or shorter distance to the main axis, 

 producing the appearance of an " extra-axillary " 

 shoot. 



In the Madonna-lily (Lilium candidtim) in several 

 shoots a flower-stalk in the axil of a green bract was 

 fused with the main axis as far as the next bract 

 above, opposite which it emerged at the end of a 

 stalk. 



A similar case was seen in Gypripedium sp. ; here 

 the pedicel and ovary of the flower were fused with the 

 axis of the inflorescence above so far as the bract of 

 the following flower which is inserted at the same level 

 as the sepals of the first flower, so that the appearance 



