174 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. X, NO. 6. 



tlu> latter in the unequal petals and difformed stamens as well as in the terminal leaf or bract 

 (which is like a spatha laid open), and the former in the six fertile stamens with bearded filaments." 

 Several years later the species became transferred to the genus Tinantia by C. B. Clarke (1. c). 



The Ramification of the Shoot. 



The. species is an annual with an ascending stem; the roots are very slender, much branched, 

 and develop from the very base of the stem. The lowest leaves, one to three, are lanceolate, the 

 others ovate to cordate and acuminate. Axillary shoots develop from the basal leaves and also 

 from some of the higher situated. It seems characteristic of this plant that the axillary buds break 

 through the sheath of the supporting leaf. However, as will be shown later, we noticed the same 

 peculiarity in Traih'xraiitia Flm'idana, and Clarke (1. c.) describes the same as characteristic of 

 Polyspatha paniculata Benth. and Buforrestia Mannii Clarke. 



The accompanying diagram of the shoot of Tinantia (PI. VIII. fig. -M5) shows the arrangement 

 of the leaves. L'-L 3 are alternating stem-leaves; a lateral shoot is developed in the axil of L 3 , 

 and the fore-leaf (P 1 ) alternates with this, while the succeeding green leaves (L 4 and L 5 ) are 

 turned 90° to the side, as in < 'ommelina. In the axil of W are two shoots developed; the main 

 one of these commences with the fore-leaf P 2 , upon which two green leaves (L 6 -L 7 ) follow; the 

 secondary, which belongs to the axil of the fore-leaf (P 2 ) begins, also, with a fore-leaf (P 3 ) 

 succeeded by a green leaf (L*). We notice thus in these three shoots exactly the same position 

 of the leaves as in Corrwndina, described above; furthermore, the fore-leaves in Tinantia support 

 lateral ramifications. 



Although axillary buds are present on the secondary branches, it seems as if these stay 

 dormant, unless the terminal inflorescences should become injured. In the specimens which we 

 have examined the main stem was invariably terminated by an inflorescence. There were, 

 furthermore, two or three long, lateral branches, all of which bore several green leaves and were 

 terminated by a few-flowered inflorescence. In no instance did we observe that the small buds 

 (in the axils of L 4 -L 8 ) attained any further development. Thus we presume they are merely 

 auxiliary. 



The Internal Structure of the Vegetative Organs. 



the roots. 



A haiiy epidermis covers a thinwalled exodermis of a single layer and of which the cell-walls 

 show nc foldings. The cortical parenchyma consists of eight compact strata, showing a very 

 regular radial arrangement of the cells; the parenchyma is thinwalled throughout, and no deposits 

 of starch were, observed. The endodermis and the continuous pericambiutn are thinwalled. 

 Seven short rays of hadrome alternate with seven roundish groups of leptome. A wide, 

 reticulated vessel occupies the center of the root, and the proto-hadrome-vessels are mostly 

 only one in each ray. The conjunctive tissue is thinwalled and sparingly represented. 



THE STEM. 



The glabrous internodes are covered by a thick, smooth cuticle. Epidermis is thinwalled, 

 and the stomata are arrangfed in longitudinal, very narrow rows outside the narrow hypodermal 

 rays of cortical parenchyma. The stomata have one pair of subsidiary cells, parallel with the 

 stoma, and they are sunk below the surrounding epidermis; the air-chamber is wide, but rather 

 shallow. A collenchymatic tissue is well developed, and represented by many hypodermal groups 

 of one or two layers; the cells are very thickwalled and of a regular stellate shape. The cortex 

 consists only of a few layers of thinwalled cells filled with chlorophyll, and, as stated above, this 

 tissue extends to epidermis between the groups of collenchyma. No raphides were observed. 

 Inside the cortex is a single layer of very large, thinwalled cells, which doubtless represents an 



"It, moreover, occurs in TradescanMa genieulata Jacq. and in Campelia Zanonia H. B. K., besides that Sehiinland 

 mentions it as common to several species of Dichorisandra. (Natiirl. Pflanzenfam., II, 4, p. 68.) 



