946 
Notes . 
PELORIA IN SAINTPAULIA IONANTHA, WENDLAND.— The detection 
of the peloric form of Linaria vulgaris in 1742, near Upsal, was considered by 
Linnaeus so remarkable a circumstance, that he not inaptly applied the term peloria 
(signifying prodigy) to describe this phenomenon. 
Since his time, however, such cases have not been infrequent, and their occurrence 
in widely separated groups of plants, especially under cultivation, point to a univer- 
sality only really thoroughly appreciated by teratologists. 
Masters, in his work on Vegetable Teratology, p. 219 (1869), distinguishes two 
forms of peloria, viz. regular and irregular, the former implying a non-development 
Figs. A and B. Saintpaulia ionantha , Wend. A. 1. Normal flower, showing projecting style. 
II. Half profile, in. Inverted and laid open to show insertion of the stamens. B. 1. Peloric form. 
ji. Same, laid open. III. Calyx and gynaeceum. 
of the irregular portions, and the latter suggesting a formation of irregular parts in 
increased numbers so as to render the symmetry of the flower perfect. Both forms 
are sometimes observed on the same plant, as is exemplified in Linaria vulgaris , and 
the same remarks apply to the peloria under consideration. Since its introduction 
from the Usambara Mountains, Tropical Africa, Saintpaulia ionantha , a Gesnerad, 
which, owing to a superficial resemblance to the Violet, has earned for itself the 
popular name of African Violet, has responded to cultural treatment by producing 
a galaxy of colours varying from reds to blues and white, the tints not always being 
confined to individual plants, but often exhibiting solitary blue and red flowers on the 
same inflorescence. Indeed, Pynaert 1 describes and figures a plant bearing red, blue, 
and half red and half blue flowers, a circumstance which is paralleled by certain 
Azaleas, but which latter anomaly may doubtless be explained by the influence of 
stock upon scion. The existence of peloric flowers appears, however, not to have 
been observed, though the allied genera Gesnera i Gloxinia , Streptocarpus , and 
Columnea are recorded as exhibiting this peculiarity. The two forms alluded to 
1 Rev, Hort. Beige, xxii, 1894, p. 109. 
