ABNORMAL "FLOWERS OF HELENIUM AUTUMNALE, L. 949 



flower, for the profound nature of the metamorphosis and radical altera- 

 tion of the ordinary character of so many of the organs could only have 

 been incurred through the tendency to virescence, and vegetative develop- 

 ment generally, having supervened at a very early period, viz. when the 

 organs were represented by very young and entirely undifferentiated rudi- 

 ments. This is a rather important point to remember. The eggs of the 

 creature were observed in considerable quantity attached to the bracteoles 

 between the disc-florets in a longitudinal section of one of the flower-heads 

 (fig. 211, A). 



In many cases, though not quite in all, in which the disc-florets have 

 become conspicuously virescent, the ray-florets (possibly in correlation 

 therewith) have shown but little development, yet in some cases they also 

 have proliferated. The former case is seen in figs. 213, 214, 215, where 



Fig. 214. — Capitulum almost entirely composed of Virescent Carpels ; 

 Spiral Torsion also shown. 



the carpels of all the disc-florets are developed as small green leaves, two to 

 each floret ; they are usually tipped with pink ; the same are also shown in 

 fig. 210, e, g, where the minute yellow corolla is seen to be unaltered. In 

 all these cases the inferior ovary disappears as such, as also do the ovules. 

 Of the leafy carpels, the upper portion must be regarded as representing 

 the styles and the lower part the ovary ; they clearly indicate the bicarpel- 

 lary nature of the pistil. In these instances the impulse to vegetative or 

 virescent growth probably set in after the corolla and stamens were 

 already formed, seeing that these latter two sets of organs have been left 

 untouched and in their normal condition. In these florets the calyx was 

 generally present in the form of about eight green, linear leaves. It should 

 be mentioned that frequently there appeared to be three green leaves pre- 

 sent in the place of the carpels ; this was found to be due to the fact that 



