among dicotyledonous plants. Seringe
figures a proliferous flower of _Arabis alpina_ with two sepals only,
and a similar occurrence has been noticed in _Diplotaxis tenuifolia_.

In _Cattleya violacea_ the writer has met with a flower in which the
uppermost sepal was entirely wanting, while two of the lateral petals
were fused together. Moquin records that in some of the flowers of
_Chenopodiaceae_, in which the inflorescence is dense, a suppression of
two or three sepals sometimes occurs. The species mentioned are _Ambrina
ambrosioides_, _Chenopodium glaucum_, and _Blitum polymorphum_.

=Meiophylly of the corolla.=--Suppression of one or more petals is of
more frequent occurrence than the corresponding deficiency in the case
of the sepals. Among _Caryophyllaceae_ imperfection as regards the
numerical symmetry of the flower is not uncommon, as in species of
_Cerastium_, _Sagina_, _Dianthus_, &c. In _Ranunculaceae_ the petals are
likewise not unfrequently partially or wholly suppressed. A familiar
illustration of this is afforded by _Ranunculus auricomus_, in which it
is the exception to find the corolla perfect.[466] Some varieties of
_Corchorus acutangulus_ in west tropical Africa are likewise subject to
the same peculiarity. Amongst _Papilionaceae_ absence of the carina or of
the alae is not uncommon, as in _Trifolium repens_, _Faba vulgaris_, &c.

Moquin relates a case of the kind in the haricot bean, in which the
carina was entirely absent, and another in the pea, where both carina
and alae were missing, thus reducing the flower to the condition that is
normal in _Amorpha_ and _Afzelia_. Suppression of the upper lip in such
flowers as _Calceolaria_ has been termed by Morren "apilary."

In _Orchidaceae_ entire absence of the labellum, frequently without any
other perceptible change, is of common occurrence. The writer has seen
numerous specimens of the kind in _Ophrys apifera_ and _O. aranifera_;
also in _Dendrobium nobile_, _AErides odoratum_, _Cypripedium villosum_,
_Listera ovata_, &c. Morren[467] mentions analogous deficiencies in
_Zygopetalum maxillare_, _Calanthe_ sp., and _Cattleya Forbesii_. In
most of these there was also a fusion of the two lower sepals, which
were so twisted out of place as to occupy the situation usually held by
the labellum. At the same time the column was partially atrophied. To
this deficiency of the lip the author just quoted proposed to apply the
term acheilary, [Greek: a-cheilario