52 
POPULAE SCIENCE EEVIEW. 
tips with a rich velvety brown. After a careful examination of 
the spot for the plant from which the blossom had fallen^ I 
gave np the search, never imagining for a moment that it had 
perhaps dropped from one of the swollen capsules of the plant 
which I had then in my hand. However, proceeding with 
my search in another part of the field, I soon discovered one 
of my little friends in situ, peeping" out between some broken 
flints, and afterwards another and another, until at length 
they occurred so frequently, that, but for the peculiar position 
of the anomalous flowers, one might have fancied a regular 
corolla to be the normal condition of a new variety of Linaria, 
It became evident, however, after an examination of numerous 
specimens, that these monstrosities were in a great degree 
confined to the lower part of the stem of the plant. Instead of a 
single subulate spur, as in the ordinary form, the abnormal 
corolla was furnished with no less than five, which becoming 
broader and erecto-patent, j)resented the appearance of a 
regular calyx, while the calycine leaves — larger and more lax 
than usual — bore a strong resemblance to those of the stem. 
In many specimens the tube of the corolla was marked a little 
above the spurs, by an inconspicuous fleshy ring’, somewhat 
similar to the indistinct articulations observable on the bodies 
of some of the annelids. 
In endeavouring to trace the cause of this singular morpho- 
logical change, a great nmnber of specimens were minutely 
examined, both as they grew, and afterwards when gathered 
and prepared for preservation. It may here be observed, 
that the petals retain their form and colour remarkably well 
when dried. The rough etchings given are made from some 
of the smaller specimens preserved for the herbarium. 
The most natural hypothesis seemed to be that the spurs of 
those flowers which grew close to the ground (sometimes 
between broken flints), having been arrested in their growth 
downwards, divided, and produced the singular change of 
structure which has been described above. 
That the variation in the form of the corolla was influenced, 
if not altogether caused, by the division of the spur, was 
curiously and strikingly exemplified. In many instances the 
flowers examined were furnished with two, three, four, or five 
spurs respectively. When provided with only two, the corolla 
departed but slightly from the normal type. It remained still 
distinctly two-lipped; the upper lip, however, was reduced 
to half its usual size, and consisted of one, instead of two 
lobes. The lower, on the contrary, became much broader and 
flatter, having gained the lobe which the other had lost. In 
this instance the palate still remained closed, as in the ordinary 
form of the flower. 
