450 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



former are outgrowths from the leaf-base, while the latter are developed 

 from the blade. Pseudo-stipules are distinguished not only by this 

 difference of development, but in their occurrence. Whereas stipules 

 are remarkably constant in their occurrence, pseudo-stipules are 

 generally found on plants the leaves of which bear no stipules, and only 

 on certain parts of such plants, where they perform some special function. 

 Their function, like that of most true stipules, is associated with the 

 protection of more delicate organs. The author finds that they occur 

 on plants with lobed or pinnate leaves ; either on the primary leaves of 

 a shoot, or on the bracts and in the leaves in the vicinity of the flower 

 region ; more rarely are they found on the leaves of the whole plant, as 

 in Canarium. Occasionally, as in Anthyllis, Lotus, and other members 

 of the Papilionaceas, both stipules and pseudo-stipules are present on 

 one and the same leaf. 



Reproductive. 



Structure of the Flower in Cruciferae.* — As a result of the study 

 of the arrangement of the vascular bundles in the parts of the flower. 

 Gerber considers the floral diagram of the typical crucifer to be as 

 follows : S 2 + 2, P 4 (diagonal), St 2 + 4, G 2 + 2. The gyncecium is 

 composed of four leaves, two valvular and sterile, two placental and 

 fertile. These four leaves are concrescent by their margins, and in 

 addition the two placental leaves are concrescent by their median nerve 

 with the axis of the flower, causing a division of the ovary into two 

 chambers. 



Inflorescence of Boraginaceae and Solanacese.f — W. Muller adds 

 yet another to the numerous discussions on the character of the so-called 

 boragoid inflorescence in these two families. While the greater number 

 of writers on the subject, including De Candolle, Eichler, Celakovsky and 

 Schumann have regarded the inflorescence as of a monochasialcymose type,, 

 others, including Schleiden and Goebel, have referred it, as a whole or in 

 part, to a monopodial development. The present writer has studied the 

 development of the inflorescence in species of the following genera of 

 Boraginacea?, Tiaridium, Heliotropium, Symphytum, Mertensia, Myosotis, 

 and Omphalodes, and concludes that, generally speaking, it is a dorsiven- 

 tral monopodium, with in some cases a tendency towards a dichotomous 

 development. Similarly he finds that the inflorescence of Hyoscyamus 

 niger is a dorsiventral monopodium. 



Structure and Function of the Antipodal Cells.J — P. K. Lotscher 

 has investigated a number of species of seed-plants, and as a result dis- 

 tinguishes three anatomical-physiological types of antipodal cells. In 

 the first type the antipodals show the lowest grade of differentiation, 

 remaining as naked protoplasts or unattached cells. Their function 

 consists mainly in the solution or absorption of the nucellus. To this 

 type belong the orchids, Cruciferge, Geraniaceaa, Linaceae, Papilionaceae, 

 Primulaceas, Poleinoniacese, and Scrophulariacese. In the second type 



* Comptea Rendus, cxl. (1905) pp. 1148-6. 



t Flora, xciv. (1905) pp. 385-419 (11 figs, in text). 



% Tom. cit., pp. 213-62 (2 pis.). 



