Fig. 15.—Union of three flowers of Calanthe vestita.
Fig. 16.—Shows the abortion of the central spur in synanthic flowers of Calanthe vestita.
As an illustration of a more complicated nature reference may be made to three flowers of Aconitum Napellus, figured by A. de Chamisso, 'Linnæa,' vol. vii, 1832, p. 205, tab. vii, figs. 1, 2. In this specimen the two outer blossoms had each four sepals present, namely, the upper hooded one, one of the lateral sepals, and both of the inferior ones; the central flower had only the upper sepal and one other, probably one of the lower sepals; thus there were but ten sepals instead of fifteen. The nectary-like petals, the stamens, and pistils were all present in the lateral flowers, but were completely suppressed in the middle one. A less degree of suppression was exemplified in a triple flower of Calanthe vestita sent me by Dr. Moore, of Glasnevin, in which all the parts usually existing in three separate flowers were to be found, with the exception of the spur belonging to the labellum of the middle flower (figs. 15, 16).
One of the most common malformations in the Foxglove (Digitalis) results from the fusion of several of the terminal flowers into one. In these cases the number of parts is very variable in different instances; the sepals are more or less blended together, and the corollas as well as the stamens are usually free and distinct, the latter often of equal length, so that the blossom, although truly complex, is, as to its external form, less irregular than under natural circumstances. The centre of these flowers is occupied by a two to five-celled pistil, between the carpels of which, not unfrequently, the stem of the plant projects, bearing on its sides bracts and rudimentary flowers. (See Prolification.) An instance of this nature is figured in the 'Gardeners' Chronicle,' 1850, p. 435, from which the cut (fig. 17) is borrowed.
