ntoglossum
Alexandrae_.]

Dr. Moore, of Glasnevin, kindly forwarded to the writer a flower of
_Calanthe vestita_ (fig. 198), in which there were two sepals only,
anterior and posterior, and two petals at right angles to the two
sepals. The lip was entirely wanting, but the column and ovary were in
their usual condition. In _Odontoglossum Alexandrae_ a similar reduction
of parts has been observed by the author (fig. 199).

It is curious to observe in these flowers how precisely one sepal
occupies the position of the labellum, and how the lateral petals are
displaced from the position they usually occupy, so as to form a regular
flower, the segments of which decussate, thus giving rise to a species
of regular peloria.

The genus _Maelenia_ was established on a malformed flower of _Orchis_ of
similar character to those above mentioned.

=Meiotaxy of the calyx.=--As already mentioned, this term is here
employed to denote those illustrations in which entire whorls are
suppressed. Complete deficiency of the calyx in a dichlamydeous flower
seems seldom or ever to occur; the nearest approach to it would be in
those cases where the calyx is, as it is termed, "obsolete," but here it
is chiefly the limb of the calyx which is atrophied, the lower portion
being more or less adherent to the ovary. In what are termed
monochlamydeous flowers both calyx and corolla are wanting, as in
_Salicineae_ and many other orders.

=Meiotaxy of the corolla.=--Deficiency of the entire corolla occurs in
conjunction with similar reductions in other organs, or as an isolated
phenomenon in the many apetalous varieties of plants recorded in books.
Deficiency of the corolla was observed in _Campanula perfoliata_ and
_Ruellia clandestina_ by Linne, who calls such blooms _flores
mutilati_.[480] Drs. Hooker and Thomson relate a similar occurrence in
_Campanula canescens_ and _C. colorata_. Some plants seem as a normal
occurrence to produce flowers of different construction, and are hence
termed dimorphic, as in many _Malpighiaceae_, _Violaceae_, _Oxalidaceae_,
in some of the flowers of which the petals are altogether wanting, while
in others the corolla is developed as usual. This deficiency of the
corolla is frequently, but not invariably, associated with an increased
fertility. Thus, in some violets the flowers produced in summer, and in
which the petals are either entirely suppressed or are more or less
atrophied, are always fertile, while the bloss