Reduction of the androecium in Spergularia marina (Caryophyllaceae)

A study of the variation in the number of fertile stamens in flowers of Spergularia marina revealed that this number fluctuates between 0 and 10 but is usually 2 to 5. A statistical analysis showed that reduction did not take place at random, because certain stamens tend to disappear more often than other ones, the progressive reduction also proceeding according to certain rules. Although the causal explanation for these phenomana can only be a tentative one for the time being, the statistical data are put on record in order to draw the attention to the occurrence of such singular processes.