[Illustration: FIG. 138.--Cucumber with leaf attached.] Fig. 138, for which I am indebted to Mr. S. J. Salter, represents a very singular conformation in the cucumber, described by that gentleman in 'Henfrey's Botanical Gazette,' i, p. 208, and considered by him to be due to the foliaceous condition of one of the three carpels of which the fruit is composed. The portion near the peduncle was binary, while the distal extremity of the fruit was ternary. The main difficulties attending the acceptance of this explanation reside in the peculiar reversed position of the leaf, and in the fact that the fruit of the _Cucurbitaceae_ is probably of axial nature, the dilated and succulent end of the peduncle adhering to and usually concealing the carpels; in some cases, however, these latter project beyond the axial portion, leaving no doubt as to the true nature of the structure in these particular instances. Admitting the axial nature of the fruit, it might be supposed that in Mr. Salter's cucumber an adventitious leaf had been given off from the axis, but even on that supposition the reversed position offers a difficulty, and there still remains to be explained the fact that the proximal part of the fruit was binary in its constitution, the distal end ternary. M. Norman[264] mentions a case wherein the carpels of _Anchusa ochroleuca_ were replaced by two leaves; from this he draws the inference that the pistil of borages and labiates is really composed of two leaves, placed fore and aft, the margins of the leaves being congenitally fused. This tallies well with the account given of the development of these plants by Payer, Germain de St. Pierre, and others. In an Indian species of _Triumfetta_, not only were the petals virescent, but the ovary also was much enlarged, and in some flowers it was divided half way down into five lanceolate leaves (fig. 139), the sepals and stamens being in their normal condition. In the preceding instances the foliaceous condition has pervaded the entire pistil, or at any rate the basal portion or ovary, and it may be noticed that the ovary is thus shown to consist in some cases of the sheath of the leaf, as in _Aquilegia_; in other cases of the blade, as in _Cerasus_, _Daucus_, &c. [Illustration: FIG. 139.--Flower of _Triumfetta_, sp., carpels represented by five leaves.]