Abstract
LONDON. Linnean Society, Jan. 8.—E. J. Salisbury: A study of Ranunculus parviflorus L., with special reference to its morphology and ecology. The floral structure has been studied in its entirety in 725 flowers, and in a considerably larger number with respect to special features. The most frequent number of parts in the flower as a whole is 26 (222 examples). This, with other observations, leads to the conclusion that the total number of parts is a number one less than a multiple of three. The structure of the sepals and their variation indicates their origin from leaves, and thus the sepal is the equivalent of the leaf-base. The staminodal nature of the petals is clearly indicated. The petals attain maturity after the stamens, which may be associated with their, phylogenetically, more recent origin. The structures of various tissues all suggest a plant of damp rather than dry habitats. This is in conformity with the ' atlantic ' type of distribution of the species and its southern habitats. Experimental cultures show that the species does not grow so well on dry sandy or calcareous soils as on moist loam.
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Societies and Academies. Nature 127, 114–115 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127114a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127114a0