218 



SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Reproductive. 



Embryo-sac Development in Hybanthus concolor.* — Frank M. 

 Andrews publishes a brief account of t bis, with eight figures. The em- 

 bryo-sac originates from a hypoderinal cell. This divides into an upper 

 bapetaJ cell and a lower, the embryo-sac mother-cell. The active division 

 of the former results in the more or less deep embedding of the latter in 

 tissue. The mother-cell divides normally into four, often irregularly 

 arranged, and the embryo-sac is formed, it is stated, by the destruction 

 of the tetrad as well as some of the surrounding cells ; it is very large 

 in size, and the egg-aperture and antipodal cells are unusually so, often 

 extending nearly across the embryo-sac lengthwise. The polar nucleus, 

 however, is generally rather small. 



Seeds of European Papaveracese.f — Louis Capitaine publishes an 

 interesting study showing the value of the seeds of this order in deter- 

 mining not only the genera but the species also. The account is accom- 

 panied by excellent reproductions of photographs, from which the 

 distinctive characters of nearly all the seeds dealt with may be readily 

 appreciated. Glaves of the species are given for every genus : the six 

 genera themselves fall into the following scheme : — 



Seeds with well-marked concave hilum. 



Seeds very small (about ^ mm.), crescent- or 

 comma-shaped or globular ; or as much as 

 1 mm., but then globular and with secondary 

 reticulum {P. setigerum) .... 



Seeds crescent-shaped, about 1 mm., no obvious 

 secondary reticulum ..... 



Seeds with hilum feebly developed. 



Seeds oval, with pergamaceous aril . 

 Seeds without papyraceous aril. 

 Seeds not D-shaped. 



Seeds gently curved at the hilum, shaped 

 like a bent club, very convex on the 

 back ...... 



Seeds large as a millet, shaped like a 

 ' quarter ' of an orange 

 Seeds almost square, D-shaped, lint feebly 

 marked ...... 



Papaver. 



Raemeriu. 



Chelidonium. 



Meconopsis. 



Glaucium. 



Hypeeonm. 



Physiology. 

 Nutrition and Growth. 



Absorption by Plants of Alkaline Earth Salts.} — H. Colin and 

 I. de Rufz Lavison publish a continuation of previous work upon this 

 subject, extending their experiments with the nitrate of barium to salts 

 of strontium and calcium. Using pea plants, they find that salts of cal- 

 cium penetrate to a considerable extent into the stem ; salts of strontium 



* Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, xxxvii. (1910) pp. 477-S (figs.). 

 t Rev. G6n. Bot., xxii. (1910) pp. 432-45 (pis.). 

 % Tom. cit., pp. 337-44. 



