248 



THE FLOWER. 



a scale-like appendage ; the petals of Sapindus, Cardiosperraum, 

 &c., a petaloid scale quite unlike the original petal ; the petals of 

 Pai-nassia, a cluster of bodies resembling sterile filaments united 

 below. 



460. The Anteposition or superposition of parts which normally- 

 alternate in the flower has in some cases been regafded as a case of 

 transverse chorisis ; but it is susceptible of a simpler explanation. 

 The principal case that occurs is that of the stamens, or the outer- 

 most circle of stamens, being jilaced directly before the petals 



(in ordinary botanical lan- 

 guage opposite the petals). 

 The Vine (Fig. 384-386) 

 and the Buckthorn families 

 are good examples of this 

 anomaly, as also is Clay- 

 tonia in the Purslane fam- 

 ily. And in Linden and 

 many of its allies a cluster of stamens (Fig. 382, 383) stands be- 

 fore each petal, the American Lindens ^* ^ 

 having also a petal-like scale in the 

 centre of every cluster. The clusters 

 must be viewed as multiplications of 

 single stamens by collateral chorisis. 

 The position of the stamens before 

 the petals in these cases, as well as 

 that of the numerous petals in certain 

 double Camellias, arranged through- 

 out in five vertical ranks, is most 

 readily explained by supposing a re- 

 turn to the regular f or five-ranked 

 phyllotaxis of leaves (240). 



461. In the genuine Geranium (Fig. 421) the position of the outer 

 of the two sets of stamens before the petals evidently results 

 from the abortion of an exterior circle (48C) ; and jjerhaps this is 

 the case in the Primrose family also. Li the Barberry family there 

 is an apparent anteposition of the sepals, petals, and stamens through- 



FIG. 382. Diagram of the flower of the American Linden, in a cross-section of the bud. 

 383. A cluster of stamens with the petal-lilte body in the middle. 



FIG. 384. Flower of the Grape, casting its petals before expansion. 385. The same, with- 

 out the petals : both show the glands distinctly, within the stamens. 386. Diagram of the 

 flower. . 



