HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 207 



Rose, in the Crowfoot, in the Magnolia, or in the Water-lily itself, the 

 same class of facts pervades the organization. Among those plants in which 

 augmented number produces a very complex condition is the Verticord. In 

 this flower we have five fringed bodies on the outside of the whole ; those 

 bodies consist each of five arms, of which the left and right external arms 

 correspond with each other, and the second inner left corresponds with the 

 second inner right arm; so that we begin with a structure of five parts, 

 each of which is subdivided into five others. In the next place five more 

 parts are placed within and between the first, as if to insure the requisite 

 balance. Then come 10 (twice five) other bodies (scales), which stand, five 

 opposite and five between the second series of five. Finally, we have 10 

 other parts (twice five again), completing the symmetry of the whole struc- 

 ture, and alternating with the 10 scales which preceded them ; the whole 

 presenting a striking example of the way in which, in a complicated struc- 

 ture, the principles of equipoise and symmetry are maintained. Were it 

 possible to weigh the corresponding parts we should, no doubt, find their 

 weights the same, as well as their magnitude form. The numerical propor- 

 tions of such a flower are (5x5) + 5 + (5 x 2) + (5 x 2). The red Brug- 

 mansia offers an instance of a more simple arrangement. In this flower 

 we do not at first perceive any symmetry except that the end of the long 

 tubular corolla is divided into five equal lobes, which, if they had been 

 formed by rule and compass, could not be more exactly alike. On the out- 

 side of this corolla, upon each of its five lobes, are three ribs, in all fifteen 

 or 5 x 3 ; and this plant never produces any other number. Upon opening 

 it we find the same number, five, still prevalent in the stamens ; and the 

 external cup or calyx is also in reality divided into five triangular teeth 

 although, owing to the way in which the teeth adhere, this is not at first 

 sight apparent. The fundamental number still being five, this structure is 

 represented by 5 -f (5x3) +5. All these remarkable examples of floral 

 symmetry seem to show that there is a centrifugal force operating in the 

 formation of flowers, which, being equal in all directions, can scarcely fail 

 to produce such a result. In the ripe fruit of the Apple, no symmetrical 

 arrangement of parts is at first apparent ; but it once had a perfectly regu- 

 lar structure, in which all the parts were exactly balanced, and even when 

 ripe its symmetry is visible to the eye of intelligence. At its end will be 

 found five points, which represent the five external divisions that originally 

 belonged to it. If the fruit is cut across, the five-pointed star in the 

 centre indicates the symmetrical number of the Apple to be five. If we 

 count the parts in the Apple blossom, we find five outer divisions in its 



