Lathyrus nissolia.
This plant apparently offers a case of the first stage in the production of
cleistogamic flowers, for on plants growing in a state of nature, many of the
flowers never expand and yet produce fine pods. Some of the buds are so large
that they seem on the point of expansion; others are much smaller, but none so
small as the true cleistogamic flowers of the foregoing species. As I marked
these buds with thread and examined them daily, there could be no mistake about
their producing fruit without having expanded.
Several other Leguminous genera produce cleistogamic flowers, as may be seen in
Table 8.38; but much does not appear to be known about them. Von Mohl says that
their petals are commonly rudimentary, that only a few of their anthers are
developed, their filaments are not united into a tube and their pistils are
hook-shaped. In three of the genera, namely Vicia, Amphicarpaea, and Voandzeia,
the cleistogamic flowers are produced on subterranean stems. The perfect flowers
of Voandzeia, which is a cultivated plant, are said never to produce fruit
(8/13. Correa de Mello 'Journal of the Linnean Society Botany' volume 11 1870
page 254, particularly attended to the flowering and fruiting of this African
plant, which is sometimes cultivated in Brazil.); but we should remember how
often fertility is affected by cultivation.
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