768 Scott.- — On the Flowers of Sparmannia africana, 
separated from its fellows and is exposed to the best 
advantage to the sun’s rays. The buds when young hang 
down close to the peduncle out of the way. As the flowers 
open they rise, and again move out of the way into a close 
vertical cluster after fertilization. Then the fertilized flowers 
move down one by one into the horizontal position, and 
gradually rearrange themselves equally over the sphere during 
ripening ; the last fruit remaining in the vertical position. 
The whole development from bud to seedling thus occupied 
four months ; this is no doubt a very much slower process 
than it would be under natural conditions. As the flowers 
only open well during sunlight with a temperature of about 
6o° F. (i 5*5° C.) and the plant is flowered in our early spring, 
one often gets only one flower at a time on an inflorescence, 
and many days may elapse before another has the opportunity 
of opening, while on a hot day one may get three or four fresh 
flowers opening at the same time. 
The plant flowers again six months later, in September, 
though it is seldom given the opportunity here, as the usual 
treatment is to cut it back after the early flowering. 
The opening of a normal bud has now been described, but 
the weather conditions make very considerable alterations in 
the habits of the bud. 
The opening is retarded by fog, probably principally because 
fog tends to keep down the temperature, which must be about 
6o° F. (15*5° C.) for a flower to open. The bud will not go on 
opening if for any reason the temperature falls. 
One bud (Figs. 42 and 43) began opening at 10.50 a.m. 
temp. 7 2 0 F. (22-5° C.) on a bright sunny day. At 11 a.m. it 
put up two sepals (Figs. 44 and 46) ; at 12.10, temp. 66° F. 
(19 0 C.), it was putting up a third (Figs. 47 and 48) when 
a hailstorm reduced the temperature below 6o° F. (15*5° C .) 1 . 
This is the stage at which in the normal opening the stamens 
1 The hailstorm no doubt reduced the temperature much more than would have 
been the case in the open, as the glass of the greenhouse was made wet and cold by 
the falling hailstones, and the evaporation afterwards tended still further to make 
the temperature fall. 
