exemplify this. In two
flowers of _Matthiola incana_, that I observed to be joined together,
there were eight sepals, eight petals, and ten perfect stamens, eight
long and two short, instead of twelve. Closer examination showed that
the point of union between the two flowers occurred just where, under
ordinary circumstances, the two short stamens would be. In this instance
but little suppression had occurred. In similar flowers of _Narcissus
incomparabilis_ I remarked a ten-parted perianth, ten stamens within a
single cup, two styles, and a five-celled ovary. Here, then, it would
appear that two segments of the perianth, two stamens, and one carpel
were suppressed. In a Polyanthus there were nine sepals, nine petals,
nine stamens, and a double ovary.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Union of three flowers of _Calanthe vestita_.]

[Illustration: 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,
'Linnaea,' 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 carp