=Cohesion of the sepals= in a normally polypetalous calyx renders the latter gamosepalous, and is not of uncommon occurrence, to a partial extent, though rarely met with complete. I have observed a junction of the sepals to be one of the commonest malformations among Orchids, indeed such a state of things occurs normally in _Masdevallia Cypripedium_, &c. An illustration of this occurrence is given by Mr. J. T. Moggridge in _Ophrys insectifera_, in 'Seemann's Journal of Botany,' 1866, p. 168, tab. 47. In Orchids, this cohesion of sepals is very often co-existent with other more important changes, such as absence of the labellum, dislocation of the parts of the flower, &c.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Gamopetalous flower of _Papaver bracteatum_.]
=Cohesion of the petals.=--Linnæus mentions the occurrence of cohesion of the petals in _Saponaria.[26]_ Moquin notices a Rose in which the petals were united into a long tube, their upper portions were free and bent downwards, forming a sort of irregular limb. An instance of the polypetalous regular perianth of _Clematis viticella_ being changed into a monopetalous irregular one, like the corolla of Labiates, is recorded by Jaeger.[27] There is in cultivation a variety of _Papaver bracteatum_, in which the petals are united by their margins so as to form a large cup. Under normal circumstances, the petals become fused together by their edges along their whole extent, at the base only, at the apex only, as in the Vine, or at the base and apex, leaving the central portions detached. Indications of the junction of the petals may generally be traced by the arrangement of the veins, or by the notches or lobes left by imperfect union. In Crocuses I have frequently met with cohesion of the segments of the perianth, by means of their surfaces, but the union was confined to the centre of the segment, leaving the rest of the surfaces free.
=Cohesion of the stamens.=--Under natural circumstances, cohesion of the stamens is said to take place either by the union of their filaments, so as to form one, two, or more parcels (Monadelphia, Diadelphia, Polyadelphia); at other times, by the cohesion of the anthers (Syngenesia), in which latter case the union is generally very slight. It must be remembered, however, that the so-called cohesion of the filaments is in many cases due rather to the formation of compound stamens, _i.e._ to the formation from one original staminal tubercle of numerous secondary ones, so that the process is rather one of over development than of fusion or of disjunction. These conditions may be met with as accidental occurrences in plants or in flowers, not usually showing this arrangement. Thus, for instance, Professor Andersson, of Stockholm, describes a monstrosity of _Salix calyculata_, in which the stamens were so united together as to form a tube open at the top like a follicle.[28] This is an exaggerated degree of that fusion which exists normally in _Salix monandra_, in Cucurbits and other plants.