[33]

Hoya carnosa. Oct. 28 1876 — A fine pod sent me from Abinger, & imperfect flowers — peduncle of apparently full length — imperfect flower only a little thicker than plumule — consisting of 5 sepals, hairy red & imbricated — Petal apparently represented by 5 very minute soft points — 700 shed from any anthers or stamen to be detached — 2 ovarium, one shrivelled & blackened other fresh.— no style or stigma, but ovarium open at upper end with edges of orifice crenulated.

(Asclepiadaceæ)

Hooker says viz (Umbel)

Perhaps the 5 little points may represent the corona

[Forms of flowers, p. 331.]

[33v]

The bunch sent me consisted of 3 imperfect flowers each 2.4 inch in length & 1 fine ripe pod, nearly 3 1/2 inches long.— whether the 3 other flowers wd even have set I do not know.— Mr Nash has grown plant for years & has never seen pod—

I know not whether — cleistogamic flower regularly produced & conditions not favourable for pods — or whether small flowers rarely rarely produced.

Oct. 28 Mr Nash's gardener brought me 4 pods rising separately out of axis of leaf when the [illeg] of flowers arise, appearing externally like a cleistogamic flower; but these consisted of a whole bunch of imbricated hairy scales, (like the sepals, but not quite so much closed) seated on a peduncle.— I can only suppose a foliaceous or rudimentary condition of a [illeg] of flowers?? The footstalk answering to main peduncle of whole [illeg]

[34]

Oct 23d. The monopetalous corolla, separated by 5 minute, flattened heart-shaped papillæ, arising from attached by a short peduncle narrowed base, &c &c distinct from one another & alternating with the sepals.—

The blackened aborted ovarium present in all 3 cleistogamic flowers separation with a touch.—

Orifice of perfect ovarium open, when summit cut off — light seen clearly through — The epidermic tissue round the orifice brownish, thickened, with a [illeg] outline — I cd see no trace of anthers or stamens; not even of the attachment of filament.— I do not doubt that ovarium in its growth had dropped always & up the stamens, as seen with other cleistogamic flowers — The orifice of first & blackened ovarium in close contact—

[34v]

Oct 25th 2 other [illeg] (?) from Abinger each with 2 cleistogamic flowers — The 2 ovaria in exactly same state in all, but in one only half the lower part of the aborted ovarium had blackened.— I looked carefully & no trace of anthers. In one [illeg], there was yet adheranta withered perfect flower, so that it appears that the cleistogene arise from same bunch as the perfect & this accounts from appearance in every case as if many flowers had arisen from the stump bearing the cleistogene.

In perfect flower calyx like cleistogene — corolla largely developed — no trace of the wonderful complex structure of stamen & stigma present — There is all I suppose [illeg] to cup of cleistogene.—

Perhaps stamen never developed