CLAYTONIA GRONOV.— THEO. HOLM. 31 



superficial, transverse wrinkles (PI. 'J, tig. 15), and with several long- roots developing in small 

 tufts from the sides. Some three or four years elapse before the flower- appear, and the fact that 

 the floral stems are not preceded by a leafy rosette, as in the former species, makes it somewhat 

 difficult to appreciate that the steins are actually axillary and that the shoot represents a monopo- 

 dium. But if we examine the apex of the tuberous body — the root — we readily notice that the 

 renter is occupied by minute leaves and inflorescences, the position of which answers that of a 

 monopodium and also that of a shoot of ( '. megarrhiza, with the exception that the leaves do not 

 winter over in ('. Virginica. In this way these two species show a marked distinction in respect 

 to the persistence of the entire root and the overwintering of the leaves in ('. megarrhiza in 

 contrast to the reduction of the root and the early fading away of the leaves in C. Virginica. 



Judging from the appearance of the vegetative organs in ('. Caroliniana and ('. lanceolata, 

 these two species show evidently the same course of development as we have observed in < '. Vir- 

 ginica; but they ought to be studied. 



The last perennial and monopodia 1 species is < '. sunn, ntnsa Mey. (PI. I, rigs. 5 and 6). This 

 is nearest related to ( '. m< garrhiza with which it has in common a long, perennial root, persisting 

 in its entire length, and an overwintering rosette of leaves. But it differs, and very prominently 

 so, by the main root being quite slender, by the leaf-bases being somewhat swollen, and by its 

 ability to wander by means of stolons above ground, developed from the axils of the leaves, in 

 our specimens of leaves from the previous year. The stolons consist either of one single inter- 

 node terminated by a rosette of leaves (tig. 5), or they bear several long-petioled leaves with 

 stretched internodes, preceding the terminal, vegetative bud (fig. 6). Secondary roots develop 

 from the internodes of these stolons (/• in rigs. 5-<J). 



The successive development of inflorescences and leaves is, however, identical with thai of 

 < '. megarrhiza and ('. Virginica. We have thus in C. sarmentosa a truly stoloniferous species, 

 yet with the primary root persisting as in the other species, and with the shoot being monopodial. 

 Furthermore the monopodial structure of the primary axis becomes repeated in the axillary 

 branches, the stolons. 



These species, described above, represent then several types of rhizomes, but only a tew of 

 these are stoloniferous, and the plants show but a very limited ability to wander, for instance, 

 ('. asarifolia by its creeping rbotstock, < '. sarmentosa by its stolons, and ('. pawifolia by it- 

 deciduous bulblets. We now pass to describe the vegetative propagation of < '. Cliamissonis, 

 which in this particular respect appears to be the best equipped of all the members of the genus. 

 Besides propagating by seeds, this species gives, also, an excellent illustration of a stoloniferous 

 and bulbiferous plant. Our figure 7 on PI. 1 shows a small specimen, the smallest we could 

 find in order to represent the plant with its rhizome in natural size; nevertheless, it is perfectly 

 sufficient for giving an idea of the mode of growth. 



A flower-bearing shoot has developed from a bulb, and the stem above ground is terminated 

 by a two-flowered inflorescence, preceded as usual by a pair of opposite leaves; but in contra- 

 distinction to most of the other Claytonise, the aerial stem i- leafy from the base to the flowers, 

 and all the leaves are opposite, including those of the subterranean stolons and bulbs. The root 

 system is poorly developed, there being onlj- some filiform, almost unbranched roots proceeding 

 from the minute internodes of the bulb, from which the shoot has developed. Long and slender 

 stolons with small, opposite, scale-like leaves are visible in the axils of the bulb scales and of 

 one of the lowermost leaves of the stem; these stolons, which are often branched, are either 

 terminated by a small, pointed bud or by an ovoid bulb with thick, fleshy scales of a crimson 

 color. Both forms of stolons are underground, and they both send up an aerial shoot in the 

 coming year. This kind of propagation takes place at a very early stage, already in the first 

 year when the seed has germinated. Such seedlings show, thus, a pair of small, hairy cotyledons 

 above ground, from the axils of which stolons develop. The immediate direction of these 

 stolons was. however, vertical instead of horizontal, since they were developed in some distance 

 above the surface of the ground, the cotyledons being epigeic, as described above; the primary 

 root is quite long, but very thin and slightly ramified; its duration does not exceed one season, 



