The Cultural Evolution of Cyclamen latifolium. 141 

 Fig. 6. 



Doubling. 



Even in the wild type there is a tendency to a slight multiplication 

 of the corolla segments. Mr. Martin has worked upon this, and has 

 produced flowers snch as shown in fig. 7. He seems to think that 

 there is no limit to which this multiplication cannot be carried prac- 

 tically, and hopes in time to produce "mop-headed" flowers like a 

 chrysanthemum. The so-called doubling of flowers, as in the rose, 

 is a teratological phenomenon, and is due to the conversion of 

 stamens into petals. But in Cyclamen this is not the case. The 

 stamens, which are normally equal in number to the corolla seg- 

 ments, are also multiplied. Although a quinary symmetry is general 

 in the Primulacece, Trientalis, a near ally of Cyclamen, ordinarily ex- 

 hibits a considerable range in the number of parts of the flower. 

 Here again Cyclamen, under artificial conditions, shows a reversion 

 to a more generalised type. 



