Morphological Notes. 
BY 
Sir W. T. THISELTON-DYER, K.C.M.G., C.I.E., F.R.S. 
Director , Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , 
With Plates VIII and IX. 
V. Abnormal Fruits. — Precocious Germination 
in a Melon. 
HE melon figured in Plate VIII was kindly sent to me 
A in July, 1898, by General, the Right Honourable Sir 
Dighton Probyn. It had been grown at Sandringham in the 
gardens of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, now H.M. the King, 
and when cut open on the table at Marlborough House, the 
interior was seen to be filled with well-developed seedlings, as 
shown in the figure. 
The specimen was so striking that it was eventually pre- 
served in spirit and placed in the Kew Museums. Sir Dighton 
Probyn, however, kindly supplied me with two other examples 
from the same source, and exhibiting the same condition ; 
these were submitted to careful examination by Mr. Horace 
Brown, F.R.S., who was working in the Jodrell Laboratory. 
The whole interior of the melon when received at Kew was 
filled with well-developed young plants. Some of these were 
removed with the section of the fruit which had been cut 
away. The first point was to ascertain whether the young 
plants originated from intra-ovarian buds or from seeds. As 
i Annals of Botany, Vol. XVI. No. LXI. March, 190a,] 
