160 



PRINCIPLES OP PLANT-TERATOLOGY. 



ventral ridges. 1 The column was normal. What must, 

 doubtless, be regarded as the same phenomenon, al- 

 though in less accentuated form, is afforded by the 

 extremely rare case of Odontoglossum crispum var. 

 " Lady Jane," a " spike " of which Mr. Eolfe received 

 recently from Messrs. Charlesworth's nurseries at 

 Hay ward's Heath. All the flowers on the plant are 

 alike in this respect, and the same character reappears 

 year after year. Each of the three petals, including 

 the labellum, possesses a fully-formed, pollinia-bearing 

 anther of two loculi, situated at the apex of the petal ; 

 the labellum possesses its usual ventral ridges ; the 

 lateral petals have become, quite unlike those of the 

 normal flower, thickly blotched with purple ; all three 

 petals are considerably reduced in size. The "column" 

 has remained perfectly normal, hence there is no 

 "wandering" of anthers from this part of the flower 

 into the petals. Everything, therefore, points to the 

 conclusion that this is merely a case (rare though it 

 be, under this form, in orchids) of partial staminody 

 of the petals, hence a reversion ; in fact the flowers of 

 this variety are regarded by cultivators as partially 

 peloriate. Magnus observed that in the orchids Phajns, 

 Trwhopilia , Zygopetalum, and Gattleya the lateral petals 

 were not only changed into stamens, but, like these, 

 were also fused with the " column." Sometimes, as 

 seen in Zygopetaluvi, the labellum does the same thing, 

 and at the same time forms anthers. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, as in Gattleya Mosdde, the petals fused with the 

 column did not form anthers ; but the fact that in other 

 cases they do so seems to show the near alliance of 

 these "column "-fused sepals and petals with stamens. 



All the above phenomena may be regarded as direct 

 reversions, partial or complete, of the petals to stamens : 

 the organs from which they originally sprang. 



Oarpellody. — This is extremely rare ; instances are 

 known in the tulip and crocus in which the petals bore 

 marginal ovules. C. Schimper saw petals of the tree- 

 peony (P. Moutan) which had on one side the consis- 



