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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



manner. Occasionally even on petals are abortive ovules thus formed 

 This fact reveals the origin of ovules, viz. that they are really foliar 

 excrescences modified for a definite and reproductive purpose.* 



Peloria. — This name was given by Dan. Rudbergt to a curious condition 

 of the toad-flax {Linaria vulgaris), in which the spur characteristic of one 

 petal is developed on each, so that the flower becomes regular by repetition, 

 and the "hood" vanishing, the " lip " becomes a circular rim. In 

 Calceolaria, the " slipper " is repeated all round, so that the whole flower 

 assumes the form of a " sleeve." Though these occur as sports, yet the 

 pelorian form of the toad-flax has been proved to be hereditary. Another 

 form of peloria is acquired by suppression of the spur : thus in the 

 columbine, which has normally five spurs, each petal being " calcarate," 

 they may be all suppressed ; and so the flower, though still " regular," as 

 all the petals are alike in both cases, has only ordinary flat petals, as in 

 its ally the buttercup. This kind is, therefore, due to atavism. Hence 

 what is called a sport in Linaria is the normal condition of the 

 columbine. 



Dialysis. — Many other kinds of sports occur, such as the separation of 

 the petals of a gamopetalous corolla. This may be an accidental spcrt, 

 as sometimes occurs in Convolvulus, &c. ; or it may be perpetuated, as 

 was the case with the hair-bell, Campanula rotundifolia. 



Fruit-sports. — These are very common. Thus in the Cucurhitacea 

 the fruits take a great variety of forms : an illustration % of the bottle- 

 gourd (Lagenaria vulgaris) shows three forms on one plant — the "bottle," 

 an elongated, cucumber- like fruit, and an oval one. Again, globular and 

 long fruits of cucumber may occur on the same plant. One of the most 

 remarkable cases is that of the nectarine, which originated as a sport on a 

 peach. It is not infrequent for both fruits to appear on the same tree 

 now, and sometimes a fruit will have half its skin wcolly, the other half 

 smooth. As the peach is a result of change in an almond, when the 

 stones are sown it is impossible to foresee which of the three kinds 

 of trees may result. The strawberry and tomato often bear multiform 

 fruits. 



Dissociation. — Though the results of this are often regarded as sports, 

 yet they ought to be distinct, as it is simply a hybrid or offspring of a 

 cross between two differently formed parents, which suddenly produces as 

 distinct the foliage, flowers, or fruits of each of the two parents respectively. 

 Thus a hybrid hellebore has borne pure white as well as purple flowers on 

 distinct stems arising from the same root-stock. Garden petunias are 

 often striped white and purple ; thus they betray their hybrid origin from 

 the two original species, one of which bore purple flowers, the other white 

 ones. A chrysanthemum may develop a flower half red and balf yellow. 

 Orchids, too, not infrequently have the sepals or petals half of one colour, 

 the other half white, &c. The cause of dissociation is quite unknown, but 

 it may become permanent, as in the petunia, York and Lancaster rose 



* See Origin of Floral Structure, p. 303. 



t Danielis Rudbergi Vermelandi " Disseitatio Botanica de Peloria " (with pi.), 

 Amcen. Acad. Bot., 1744, p. 280. But Linnaeus, in the Species Plantarum, 1764, 

 refers to Peloria as " Linariaa proles hybrida . . . naturae prodigium." Amcen. 

 Acad. i. p. 55, t. 3. 



% Occurring in Matthiolus' Commentary on Dioscorides, 1560. 



