CURIOSITIES OF VEGETABLE MORPHOLOGY. 
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fig. 9 shows the number of ornamental expansions that grow 
down those of the Sparmannia Africana, a shrub belonging to 
the lime-tree family, coming from Africa, and not uncommon 
in greenhouses, or as an out-door plant in summer. The flower of 
Sparmannia owes much of its beauty to its modified filaments. 
It has four white petals, narrow at the base and broad at the 
rim, arranged in an open cross. Between these shine four 
white spear-shaped sepals, and the centre is occupied by an 
immense number of filaments, the outer golden yellow, 
and barren; the inner ones longer, rich red in colour and 
hearing purplish anthers, and both sets of filaments are pro- 
vided with a series of expansions, as shown in fig. 9a, the 
whole effect being very pretty. 
In this instance we find that the filaments, instead of being 
simple stalks, exhibit lateral growths ; and having in this and in 
the case of the Berbery filaments witnessed such developments, 
we shall not be surprised in other plants to find much more 
accomplished in the way of modification. 
If we look at the Gannas, now common as greenhouse plants, 
and planted out in summer to give sub-tropical effects, we 
notice at once a striking departure from ordinary flowers, and 
at first may not perceive in the narrow petal-like objects any- 
thing that will do for either stamen or pistil. We shall, how- 
ever, on careful examination, see that some of the narrow 
petals have whitish tips and pollen masses upon them. These 
are the stigmas, as shown in fig. 10a. The anthers are of similar 
character, looking like leaves. Their filaments (stalks) are ex- 
panded on one side in a petal, and the actual anther, with a 
slight expansion on the other side, will be noticed arranged 
longitudinally near the top (see fig. 10). 
The Gannas belong to the Marantacese, in which the plants 
yielding the true arrow-root are found, and botanists describe 
them as having “ a calyx of three sepals, a corolla of six pieces, 
five of which are erect, the other reflexed ; these may be con- 
sidered rather as abortive stamens than petals ; the one fertile 
stamen is petal-like, with an anther on the margin ; the style 
is also petal-like, with a linear stigma.” * The seed of these 
plants is very hard, and justifies the popular name of Indian 
My acquaintance with Gannas is confined to the greenhouse 
varieties, known as Alexandra,” &c., and they appear to con- 
form very closely in structure to the figures of G. Indicus 
and others in Eoscoe’s great work on the Scitaminece. When 
the flower has opened, any casual observer would at first be 
puzzled to find the reproductive organs. He would see a mass 
* Treasury of Botany. 
