[Illustration: FIG. 52.--Inflorescence of _Polyanthus_, bearing a tuft of leaves at the top of the scape intermixed with the flowers.]
=Median floral prolification of the inflorescence=, wherein a new inflorescence projects beyond the primary one, is not uncommon in plants having their flowers arranged in close heads or umbels, as in the common wild celery and other _Umbelliferæ_.[110] I have also met with it in _Trifolium repens_, in the umbellate variety of the common primrose, and in the scarlet geranium. Engelmann cites it in _Triticum repens_, Roëper in _Euphorbia palustris_.[111]
=Lateral foliar prolification of the inflorescence= is of more common occurrence than the preceding. I have met with it, amongst other plants, frequently in _Brassica oleracea_, _Pelargonium zonale_, SCABIOSA, BELLIS, and many other composites, also in _Leguminosæ_, e.g. _Lupinus_, _Trifolium_, _Coronilla_, &c. Prof. Oliver forwarded me a specimen of _Euphorbia geniculata_ in which, in addition to other changes, there was a series of stalked buds bearing tufts of green scales, but without any trace of stamens or pistil; these adventitious buds occurred within the ordinary involucre of the plant, between it and the stamens. The pistil was unaffected in some cases, while in some others it was entirely wanting, the gynophore being surmounted by a cup-like involucre, divided into three acutely pointed lobes, each with a midrib; these encircled a series of stalked involucels, as before, and among which were scattered a few stamens, some perfect, others partially frondescent.
In a specimen of _Scrophularia nodosa_ examined by me one of the lateral buds on each of the cymes was represented, not by a flower, but by a tuft of leaves, the other buds being unchanged. As the inflorescence was much contracted in size, the appearance of the whole plant was greatly changed.
Many of the instances of so-called viviparous plants, _e.g._, _Polygonum viviparum_, may be cited under this head.[112] Many species of _Allium_, _Lilium_, _Saxifraga_, _Begonia_, _Achimenes_, normally produce leaf-buds or bulbs in the inflorescence; so, too, leafy shoots are sometimes found in _Alisma natans_, _Juncus uliginosus_, _Chlorophytum Sternbergianum_, &c. As an accidental occurrence, a similar thing has been noticed in _Lychnis coronaria_, _Phaius grandifolius_, _Oncidium cebolleta_, _Epidendrum elongatum_,[113] &c. &c.