DISEASES OF PLANTS. 365 
Another species of deformed flower is the Snow- 
ball, (Viburnum Opulus). ‘This shrub has, in its 
natural state, small campanulate flowers, which on 
their margin are surrounded by large, unfertile, and 
rotate flowers. In gardens, and in rich soil, all the 
flowers grow into large rotate corols, which are 
three times the size of the natural corols... All the 
stamens and styles vanish of course. ‘These flowers 
are seen in almost every garden. 
Another kind of deformed flower has. been ob- 
served, though extremely rarely. In one of the 
Umbellatae, just beneath the umbella, a compound 
flower was found resembling that of Bellis perennis. 
(Cf. Botanical Magazine, I. Plate 2.) A flower 
like this was found by Gessner on a ranunculus, 
(Cf. Joan. Gesner, Dissert. De Ranunculo bellidifloro, 
Tiguri. 1753, 4°.) It isa striking phenomenon to 
meet on the stem of a flowering ranunculus aad of 
an umbella, the flower of the Bellis. Once it was 
thought, that the stems of both were grown together, 
and that the stem of the Bellis had grown and un- 
folded itself in the first like a grafted sprig. But 
late observations have shewn, that this flower is not 
the perfect flower of the Bellis perennis, but merely 
something like it. It is a congeries of many flowers 
of the ranunculus or umbella, imperfectly unfolded, 
which have retained their small size and yellow co- 
lour, and are inclosed in a number of whitish petals, 
May not the bite of insects ae this defor- 
mity ? 
§ 342. 
