TRIPHYLLUM AND ARISAEMA DRACONTIUM 51 
the vigorous growth of A. triphyllum which was subjected to the 
same conditions. 
On the other hand the small proportion of functional plumules 
developed by seedlings of A. Dracontium and, in the cases in which 
aleaf was produced, the great variations in shape, the small size, the 
generalized form and venation, the delicacy of the lamina and the 
weak development of wax upon it, the shortness of the petiole and 
the frequent appearance of monstrosities, all are indications of de- 
generation and lead to the conclusion that this seedling is losing 
its power to produce a normal assimilating plumule. This con- 
clusion is borne out by an examination of the internal structure. 
The petioles of the smaller leaves of A. ¢riphyllum show the same 
arrangement of fibrovascular bundles as the largest of A. Dra- 
contium and a series of increasingly smaller plumules which may 
easily be obtained from a number of seedlings shows a successively 
more generalized development of fibrovascular system until in the 
least developed system it becomes reduced to a mere rudiment. The 
highly organized fibrovascular system of the hypocotyl, which is 
of very little service to the seedling without a plumule and only a 
weakly developed root system, is still retained and bears evidence 
that the present type of seedling which brings a plumule to various 
stages of imperfect development may be a degeneration from a con- 
dition like that of the seedlings of A. triphyllum with a plumule 
normally functional. 
So far as has been observed this type of germination is of no 
benefit to the seedlings. It does not seem to enable the corms to 
escape from the danger which they incur of being torn up by 
animals, for the development of the seedling without a strong 
root system of course precludes any great downward pull upon 
the corm by the contraction of its roots. Those plants of A. 
Dracontium which develop a leaf and correlated with this a 
Stronger root system have invariably been found buried deeper 
than the plants whose plumule is not functional, for although in 
the plumuleless seedlings there is no upwardly directed force to 
bring the corm near the surface such as the plumule exerts in 
forcing its way through the ground yet on account of the weak- 
ness of the root system the tendency is such as to keep the corms 
very near the depth at which the seeds germinated. The repres- 
