2, vol. ix, p. 36, tab. i, and also
p. 291.

[294] Ibid., 1857, vol. iv, p. 761.

CHAPTER II.

METAMORPHY OF THE FLORAL ORGANS.

One of the main arguments adduced by Goethe and others in support of the
now generally received doctrine of the essential morphological identity
of the various whorls of the flower is derived from the frequent
appearance of one organ in the guise of another. The several parts of
the flower become, as it is said, metamorphosed; sometimes the change
is complete, while at other times there may be every conceivable
intermediate condition between one form and another. The sense in which
the terms metamorphosis, substitution, transformation, and the like, are
herein used has already been explained. For the convenience of
arrangement, metamorphosis of the parts of the flower may be divided
into several subdivisions, according to the particular organ affected,
and according to the special kind or degree of change manifested, the
main subdivisions being here classed as Sepalody, Petalody, Staminody,
and Pistillody.

=Sepalody of the petals.=--This change, spoken of by most authors as
retrograde metamorphosis of the petals into sepals, or as a substitution
of sepals for petals, is obviously a condition that is in most cases
hardly distinguishable from virescence of the corolla, or from
multiplication of the sepals. Nor is this of much consequence unless
there are some special structural features which render the
discrimination a matter of importance, in which case the difficulty is
generally easily surmounted. The flower of the Saint-Valery Apple may
perhaps be cited under this head. In the flower in question there are
neither stamens nor petals, unless the second or inner of sepals be
considered as sepaloid petals (fig. 152).

[Illustration: FIG. 152.--Flower of St. Valery apple, with sepaloid
petals.]

M. Alph. de Candolle[295] describes an instance in _Primula Auricula_ in
which the corolla had assumed the appearance of the calyx, but neither
calyx nor corolla in this case possessed perfect stomata.

This malformation is much less common than the converse one of
calycanthemy. Many of the recorded instances of so-called metamorphosis
of the parts of the flower to sepals have occurred in monocotyledonous
plants, or others in which the calyx and corolla are of the same colour,
and constitute what is frequently termed the perianth; and as this is
usually brightly coloured (not green) i