42, 



DOUBLE FLOWERS. 



is that of the Opulus flore globoso, commonly called the Gel- 

 derrose. In the common simple Opulus, the flowers are pro- 

 duced on a cyma, which consists of a great number of campanu- 

 late, bell-shaded, hermaphrodite flowers in the disk, and of others 

 in the circumference, whose corollae are larger, flat, and wheel- 

 shaped ; and that are barren, wanting the pistillum. But in the 

 Opulus flore globoso, all the flowers of the disk are barren 

 also, and shaped like those of the circumference ; so that the 

 impletion here arises only from the additional number of barren 

 flowers, the corollae of which are of a larger size ; and in this it 

 resembles the impletion of the compound flowers, of which we 

 shall presently speak. 



Before we leave the simple flowers, it will be of use to remark, 

 that a simple flower, in a state of luxuriancy, may in all cases 

 be distinguished from a compound one in its natural state, by 

 this rule ; that in simple flowers, how much soever multiplied, 

 there is but one pistillum in the centre of the flower, common 

 to the whole multiplication ; whereas in compound flowers, each 

 of the florets is furnished with its own pistillum and stamina. 



We come now to the impletion of compound flowers; that 

 these are of three kinds, ligulate, tubulose*, and radiate, has been 

 shown and explained in Chap. XIX. where it has also been seen, 

 that there is not either in the ligulate or tubulose any distinction 

 of disk or radius, all the florets in these being alike ; but that the 

 contrary is the very characteristic of the radiate ; now this being 

 attended to, the manner of the impletion will be easily under- 

 stood. Compound flowers gain their impletion two ways, either 

 by the radius, or the disk. We shall begin with the first. 



Impletion by the radius is when, by the multiplication of the 



nearly, in every thing but the flower, that they are not to be known one from the 

 other, till their flowers appear panel even in the flowers they agree in the calyx, peri- 

 carpium, and seeds, and also in colour; which has given rise to a supposition, 

 that the Peloria is only a Linaria in a monstrous state ; see the Dissertation of Da- 

 niel Rudlerg on the Peloria, in the Amcenitates Academics vol. I. p. 280. This is 

 now known to be the fact, as the Peloria has been known to return back to the Lina- 

 ria; and flowers of both kinds have been found on some plants. Editor. 

 * Tubulose, tubular.. Editor. 



