THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



[THIRD SERIES.] 

 No. 35. NOVEMBER 1860. 



XLI. — Remarks on the so-called Woody and Vascular Fasciculi 

 of Ferns. By George Ogilvie, M.D.* 



[With two Plates.] 



In a former communication (Annals, Dec. 1859) I have referred 

 to a common feature in the rhizomes of Ferns, namely, that the 

 vascular bundles form a curious netted cylinder, dividing the 

 cellular matrix of the stem into a central or medullary, and a 

 peripheral or cortical region. To the dark-coloured tissue 

 which, in dense woody bands or in some other form, is frequently 

 present in the substance of the stem, constituting one of its 

 most remarkable features, I made only a passing allusion, as I 

 found that its arrangement (unlike that of the vascular tissue) 

 varied so much in different species as to require a more particular 

 examination of its modifications than I was able to undertake 

 at the time. Since then, I have re-examined a considerable 

 number of rhizomes with special reference to the disposition of 

 this tissue, as well as of the vascular bundles. 



In regard to the former, I have not been able to arrive at any 

 conclusion which could be reduced to the form of a general ex- 

 pression. Still I have thought that a short notice of the actual 

 structure and arrangement of the tissues in the species examined 

 might be worth recording, as I cannot find that any systematic 

 observations have yet been made on these points f. Considering 



* Communicated by the author, having been read in part at the Meeting 

 of the British Association at Oxford, June 1860. 



t My attention has since been directed by the Rev. W. W. Newbould to 

 some ' Hints on a new Character in Ferns,' with illustrative figures, by the 

 Rev. W. A. Leighton (Phytologist, n. s., i. p. 256). The author confines 

 his remarks to the petioles of a few species, and does not always very 

 distinctly state the part of the petiole examined, which may account for 

 some apparent differences between his description and that here given 



Ann. # Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol vi. 21 



