Cockayne. — Development of Seedlings. 93" 



petioles, stained with red, connate and swollen at the base, 

 and together with extreme base of lamina parallel to and 

 sheathing the stem ; lamina ovate - lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, bright glossy green, glabrous on upper but with 

 numerous minute white scales on under-surface, quite entire 

 usually for lower two-thirds of margin, sparsely toothed and 

 usually stained with deep red on upper third ; teeth in an 

 early state of development glandular; apex sharply_ acute, 

 midrib prominent on under-surface, but together with the 

 usually 6 lateral nerves indistinct on upper surface. 



2nd pair of leaves similar in all respects to 1st pair, 

 except not yet quite as large. 



Stem erect, terete, green, having numerous small white 

 scales, swollen at nodes; 1st internode 1-8 cm. long; 2nd 

 internode almost as long as 1st. In one plant, which had the 

 upper portion of the stem removed two weeks ago, two oppo- 

 site branches are developed from the axil of the cotyledons 

 4 mm. in length, and each with 2 leaves 2-75 mm. long. 



Stipules 2, inserted at base of sheathing petiole, and united 

 by their contiguous internal margins for half of their length 

 or more ; slightly longer than petiole ; in very early state of 

 development more than half size of leaf ; free portion deltoid, 

 ending in a mucronate gland, which shrivels as plant developes. 



The petiole of the leaf just above its base has a hollow 

 which receives the young bud, which is protected on either 

 side also by the stipules. 



Further development not yet seen. 



' Discaria toumatoii of the sand-dunes is a low-growing 

 shrub, with spreading, flexible, slender branches, usually leaf- 

 less for the greater part of the year, but furnished at intervals 

 of about 2 cm. with decussate, reduced, spiny shoots, 3 cm. in 

 length, quite green, and which function as leaves. From 

 beneath the axil of these, but from the axil of a fallen leaf, 

 in spring, numerous leafy shoots, either much reduced through 

 imperfect development of the internodes or well -developed 

 reversion shoots with long internodes, are developed ; the 

 former bear flov.'ers, and are finally cast off, the latter do not 

 bear flowers the first season, but become permanent branches. 

 These reversion shoots are similar to the early juvenile form de- 

 scribed above, except that they have reduced shoots terminating 

 in a spinous point issuing from the axils of the leaves. In au 

 early stage of development these spines are almost entirely 

 enclosed by two stipules, but, their lower portion growing very 

 much more rapidly than the apical portion, the stipules are 

 carried forward, and finally surround the base of the actual 

 pungent point, wdaich, at first quite soft, becomes extremely 

 hard and sharp through its tissues completely drying up. 

 The adult leaves (tig. 21) are narrower, longer, and with 



