Previous page |
|
next page |
| Previous page |
|
next page |
....Irises may be considered like some Amaryllidaceae whose internal suite of stamens has disappeared for, in numerous instances, these stamens reappear, at least partially, as well-formed stamens or as colored staminoids. Heinricher published several theses on this subject which leave no doubt about this in Iris pallida and its varieties. This reappearance was also observed among the Irises Kaempferi, Sieboldii, and ochroleuca.
....The fusion of several flowers
or synthany in Iris versicolor and sambucina was brought to our
attention by Masters; Miss Armitage described it in Iris variegata
Maori King and pallida variabilis, where it was almost
total and in Iris aphylla nudicaulis where it was less
complete. Mottet described a total fusion of two flowers of Iris
Kaempferi and at Verrières this was also observed in
Iris germanica.
....One of the cases involving Iris
aphylla nudicaulis is of special interest, if not from the
horticultural point of view, from the botanical one. The flower
resulting from fusion was of the 7 Type (less the absence of two
petals)and the ovary, instead of presenting 7 chambers with a
central placentation offered only one chamber with 7 parietal
placentas with well-formed ovules. It is accepted that, in the
family of Irises, only Hermodactylus, so externally similar
to the Irises that it has often been included among them, displays
this configuration.
....Masters informed us earlier about proliferations, which are the superposition of two blooms, but without specifying in which Iris species it had been observed. Proliferation was again observed by Miss Armitage as a double Iris siberica and, remarkably, the three flowers which surmounted the normal ovary were themselves partially doubled, composed of 7 sepals and petals and some stamens.
....A multiplication of the parts of a floral verticil or polyphyla is surely the most frequently encountered monstrosity. We hear of as many as 9 sepals, 6 petals, and 5
| Previous page |
|
next page |
|