On Petalody of the Ovules and Other Changes in a Double-Flowered form of “Dianella Cærulea”

Abstract

A SPECIMEN, kindly forwarded me by Baron Sir Ferd. von Mueller, of a double-flowered Dianella cœrulea, has several points of interest. It is an addition to the scanty list of double-flowered plants from the southern hemisphere; it is of interest as having suggested to Robert Brown the establishment of a new species, as was kindly indicated to me by Mr. Baker, while the structural peculiarities it presents are specially worthy of note. With regard to the first point, subsequent experience has shown that the late Dr. Seemann's assertion that there was not “a single double-flowered species known from the southern hemisphere,” except Rubus rosifolius, no longer holds good, and, indeed, the number of specimens that have from time to time been forwarded to me by Sir Ferdinand von Mueller from various parts of Australia, leads me to believe that such variations are as common in wild Australian plants as in wild European ones, and that, if there be any defect in this particular, it is more apparent than real, and arises partly from insufficient observations, and partly from the relatively smaller number of cultivated plants in Australia. One such instance, that of Tetratheca ciliata, presented such features of interest that I made it the subject of a note in your columns, December 7, 1882.