462 
STRUCTURE AND LIFE HISTORIES 
of Ranunculus, in which the sepals and petals are in circles, 
while the stamens and pistils are in spirals a more 
primitive feature. 
410. Petalody of Bracts. It is also common in certain 
species of this family (notably in the genera Trollius and 
FIG. 345. Flower of a buttercup (Ranunculus sp.); a, b, normal, show- 
ing 5 petals; c, d, petalody of stamens; e, petal with nectary at its base; 
f-h, ripened ovaries. 
Anemone) for the green foliage-like bracts below the 
perianth to assume the characters of sepals, and even of 
petals, so that frequently one can hardly say whether a 
given segment of the perianth is a true petal, or a trans- 
formed bract. By the petalody of the bracts the flower 
appears to be "double." 
411. Coalescence of Petals. It frequently occurs in 
flowers of Ranunculaceae (and in other normally poly- 
petalous families also) that the initial stages or primordio, 
