Vegetable Teratology Part 29

M. Gris[227] has placed on record some interesting cases of peloria of this kind in _Zingiber zerumbet_; in the more complete forms the androecium or staminal series was composed of six distinct pieces, the three inner of which were fertile, while in the ordinary flower the androecium is composed of two pieces, "a lip" and a fertile stamen.

"Is it not a matter of regret," says M. Gris, "to be obliged to call the latter the normal flower?"

Under this head may likewise be mentioned those cases in which the normal, or at least the typical symmetry of the flower is restored by the formation of parts usually suppressed; thus Moquin cites an abnormal flower of _Atriplex[228] hortensis_ described by M. Fenzl as having a true calyx within the two bracts that usually alone encircle the stamens. Adanson, also cited by Moquin, found a specimen of _Bocconia_ with a corolla. _Arum maculatum_ has likewise been met with provided with a genuine perianth as in _Acorus_ and other Orontiads. The unusual development of the s.e.xual organs in diclinous flowers has been alluded to under the head of heterogamy, and other cases where the symmetry of the flower is rendered regular, by the development of parts ordinarily suppressed, will be found in the chapters relating to deviations from the usual number of organs.

This change, or rather this persistence of a form that is usually transient, is generally accompanied by some other alterations. Change of direction, as has been already mentioned, is one of the most common of these; separation of the petals (_Antirrhinum_, _Verbasc.u.m_, &c.), and even their appearance in leaf-like guise, are not infrequent (_Delphinium_, _Antirrhinum_, _Verbasc.u.m_, &c.) At other times multiplication or increased number of the whorls of petals takes place, often, but not always, at the expense of the s.e.xual organs of the flower. Perhaps even more frequent is the increased number of parts in the same whorl in cases of regular peloria; thus, in the Pelargoniums before alluded to, the parts of the flower are frequently regulated by the number six instead of five.

This form of peloria is most generally met with in flowers that are placed at the end or in the centre of the inflorescence, or in such flowers as occur singly at the end of the flower-stalk, as in _Tropaeolum_, _Viola_, &c. It would hence seem as if the freedom from pressure or restriction on one side allowed the flower to develop equally in all directions, and thus to produce regularity of form.

It is obvious, from what has been before said, that the process of fertilisation is in many cases interfered with and altered by the change in the conformation or the flower.

From overlooking the occasional existence of this form of peloria, new genera have sometimes been formed on insufficient grounds. The genus _Aceranthus_, for instance, consists of species of _Epimedium_ in which the customary spurs are not formed.[229]

The occurrence both of regular and irregular peloria on the same plant has frequently been observed in _Linaria_. It has also been remarked that the seedlings raised from these forms are not always constant; thus, the late Mr. Crocker, formerly foreman in the Royal Gardens, Kew, informed me that he fertilised some flowers of a drooping Gloxinia with their own pollen, and that when the seedlings blossomed a large number of them produced the erect regular flowers.

From what has been already said it will be seen that regular peloria is closely allied to what Morren called epanody, or a return to the normal condition. The reversion of a monstrous form to the normal one, as, for instance, when the fern-leaved beech reverts to the normal type, was called by the same author epistrophy.[230]

The following are the genera in which regular peloria has been most often observed. It must, however, be remarked that in some of the flowers recorded as peloric there is no indication as to which form of peloria the case should be referred to. For other ill.u.s.trations refer to chapters on Heterogamy, Number, Irregular Peloria, &c.

*Delphinium peregrinum!

*Nigella damascena!

*Aquilegia vulgaris!

*Viola odorata!

hirta.

Epimedium, sp.

*Pelargonium zonale!

* inquinans!

Tropaeolum majus!

*Wistaria sinensis.

Lupinus.

*Cytisus Laburnum!

Trifolium repens!

*Compositae, gen. pl.!

Lonicera Periclymenum!

Streptocarpus Rexii.

*Digitalis purpurea.

*Scrophularia aquatica.

*Pentstemon.

*Linaria vulgaris!

*Antirrhinum majus!

Verbasc.u.m nigrum!

Columnea Schiedeana.

Halenia heterantha.

Galeobdolon luteum.

Prunella vulgaris!

Salvia, sp.!

Teucrium campanulatum.

Betonica alopecuros.

Eccremocarpus scaber.

Pedicularis sylvatica.

Zingiber Zerumbet.

Phalaenopsis amabilis!

Phalaenopsis Schilleriana.

Habenaria.

*Orchis morio.

mascula.

*Dendrobium, sp.

Atriplex, sp.

Cattleya Mossiae!

marginata.

Calanthe vest.i.ta!

Oncidium, sp.!

Selenipedium caudatum.

Arum maculatum.

In addition to the references already given, further information on this subject may be gained from consulting the following publications. See also Irregular Peloria.

Giraud, 'Bot. Soc. Edinb.,' Dec. 12, 1839, _Antirrhinum_.

Dareste, 'Ann. Sc. Nat.,' ser. 2, 1842, xviii, p. 220, _Delphinium_. C. Morren, 'Fuchsia,' p. 90, _Calceolaria_, 'Bull. Acad. Belg.,' xx, part ii, p. 57; and E. Morren, 'Bull.

Acad. Belg.,' 2nd ser., xix. p. 224, _Gloxinia_. Richard, 'Mem.

Soc. d'hist. nat.,' ii, p. 212, tab. 3. Lindley, 'Journ. Linn.

Soc.,' iii, p. 9, _Dendrobium_. Michalet, 'Bull. Soc, Bot.

France,' vii, p. 625, _Betonica_. Gubler, 'Bull. Soc. Bot.

Fr.,' ix, 81, 'Des anomalies aberrantes et regularisantes.'

Reichenbach fil. 'De pollinis orchid. genesi ac structura,'

1852, _Oncidium_. Clos, 'Mem. Acad. Toulouse,' vi, 1862, _Salvia_. Caspary, 'Verhandl. Phys. OEkon. Gesell.

Konigsberg,' 1860, i, 59, _Columnea_. Bureau, 'Bull. Soc. Bot.

Fr.,' 1861, vol. viii, p. 710, _Streptocarpus_. Darwin, 'Variation of Animals and Plants,' ii, pp. 59 and 396. G.o.dron, 'Ex. Bull. Bot. Soc. Fr.,' xiv, p. 165, 'Rev. Bibl.,'

_Wistaria_. Marchand, 'Adansonia,' iv, p. 172, _Lonicera_.

Baillon, 'Adansonia,' v, p. 177, 'Sur la regularite transitoire de quelques fleurs irreg.,' shows that during the development of some flowers which begin and end by being irregular, there is an intermediate state when all the parts are regular. Helye, 'Revue Horticole,' Sept., 1868, p. 327. In this last paper, published as this sheet is going through the press, the author states that he has raised from seed three generations of plants of _Antirrhinum_ with regular spur-less flowers. The original wild plant was only partially peloric, but all the flowers produced on its descendants were regular.

FOOTNOTES:

[221] "On the existence of two forms of Peloria," by M. T. Masters.

'Nat. Hist. Review,' April, 1863.

[222] Baillon, 'Adansonia,' iv. p. 149.

[223] Similar cases are figured in 'Hort. Eystettens. Ic. Pl. Vern.'

fol. 4, f. 1, 2. _Viola martia_ multiplici flore.

[224] 'Linnaea,' 1837, p. 128.

[225] M. Bureau, 'Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr.,' ix, p. 91, describes two genera of _Bignoniaceae_ in which the flowers are _normally_ regular and six parted.

[226] See 'Trans. Linn. Soc.,' vol. x. p. 227.

[227] 'Ann. Sc. Nat.,' ser. 4, 1859. tom. xi, p. 264, tab. 3.