Fig. 4.—Fasciation in Asparagus.
Fig. 5.—Fasciated branch of Pinus Pinaster.
Very generally the surface is striated by the prominence of the woody fibres which, running parallel for a time, converge or diverge at the summit according to the shape of the branch. If the rate of growth be equal, or nearly so, on both sides, the stem retains its straight direction, but it more generally happens that the growth on one side is more rapid and more vigorous than on the other, and hence arises that curvature of the fasciated branch so commonly met with, e.g. in the ash (Fraxinus), wherein it has been likened to a shepherd's crook. It is probable that almost any plant may present this change. It occurs alike in herbaceous and in woody plants, originating in the latter case while the branches are still soft. It may be remarked that, in the case of herbaceous plants, the fasciation always affects the principal stem, while, on the other hand, in the case of trees and shrubs the deformity occurs most frequently in the branches; thus, while in the former it may be said that the whole of the stem is more or less affected, in the latter it is rare to see more than one or two branches of the same tree thus deformed. It is a common thing for the fasciated branch to divide at the summit into a number of subdivisions. These latter may be deformed like the parent branch, or they may resume the ordinary aspect of the twigs.
Fig. 6.—Fasciation and spiral torsion in the stem of Asparagus.
Sometimes the flattened stem is destitute of buds, at other times, these organs are scattered irregularly over its surface or are crowded together in a sort of crest along the apex. When, as often happens, the deformity is accompanied with a twisting of the branch spirally, the buds may be placed irregularly, or in other cases along the free edge of the spiral curve. In a specimen of Bupleurum falcatum mentioned by Moquin the spiral arrangement of the leaves was replaced by a series of perfect whorls, each consisting of five, six, seven, or eight segments, and there was a flower-stalk in the axil of each leaf.
When flowers are borne on these fasciated stems they are generally altered in structure; sometimes the thalamus itself becomes more or less fasciated or flattened, and the different organs of the flower are arranged on an elliptical axis. A case of this nature is described by Schlechtendal ('Bot. Zeit.,' 1857, p. 880), in Cytisus nigricans, and M. Moquin-Tandon describes an instance in the vine in one flower of which sepals, petals, stamens, and ovary were abortive, while the receptacle was hypertrophied and fasciated, and bore on its surface a few adventitious buds.[11] The pedicels of Streptocarpus Rexii have also been observed in a fasciated state.[12]