James Small. 
THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
COMPOSITE. 
By Jambs Small, M.Sc. (Lond.), Ph.C. 
Chapter IV. 
THE COROLLA. 
HE main characters of the corolla may be divided into four 
groups—form, development, colour and vascular anatomy, 
and, in addition to the presentation of the facts concerning these 
characters, the present chapter includes the history of our 
knowledge of the corolla in the Compositse and a discussion of the 
hearing of the facts and the theories of variation in the corolla 
upon our general problem of the origin and development of the 
family. 
A. History of the Corolla in the Composite. 
The history of the corolla begins with the observation by 
Theophrastus (see Chap. I, Section A) of its epigynous position. 
During the period of the herbais very little attention was paid to 
the floral characters. Among the early writers, Lobel (49) seems 
to have considered the corolla in grouping his genera and Caesalpino 
(14) used the colour of the corolla to sub-divide his Class XI, the 
Anthemides, which included practically all the Compositae not in the 
Cynareae or Cichorieae. 
Morison (57) used the colour of the corolla and the presence or 
absence of rays in his sub-divisions of the Compositae; Ray (69) and 
many systematists in the succeeding period followed his example. 
The discoid, rayed and “ semi-flosculose ” (Cichoriaceous) condition 
of the corolla furnish the diagnostic characters for the main divisions 
of the family in Tournefort’s system (81). Boerhaave (8) separated 
the Cynareae from the other discoid forms and endeavoured to place 
these latter among related genera, distinguishing radiate and discoid 
forms. 
After the definite establishment by Vaillantus (86) of the 
sections, Cynarocephalae, Corymbiferae and Cichoraceae very little 
advance was made in the use of the characters of the corolla until 
Cassini published his analysis of the corolla (16); the chief point to 
be noted is the establishment of the Lahiatiflorae (Mutisieae) by 
De Candolle and Lagasca. Berldiey, in 1760, (7) considered the 
corolla in some detail but added nothing new. Gaertner, in 1791 
(31), returned to the Radiatae and Discoidese of the earlier 
