HoLLOWAT. — Studies in the New Zealand Species of Lycopodium. 193 



Art. XXVII. — Studies in the New Zealand Species of the Genus Lyco- 

 podium : Part IV — The Structure of the Prothallus in Five Species. 



By the Rev. J. E. Holloway, D.Sc, Hutton Memorial Medallist. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 3rd December, 1919 ; received 

 by Editor, 31st December, 1919 ; issued separately, 23rd June, .1920.] 



Plates XII-XV. 



Introductory. 



In three previous papers (6, 7, 9) I have given general descriptions of 

 the form and the manner of occurrence of the prothalli of eight New Zealand 

 species of Lycopodium. In the last of these papers I also noted, without 

 figures, certain details in the structure of the prothalli which bore upon 

 the general subject of the great variability of the New Zealand species of 

 Li/copodiicm. The eight species whose prothalli were described are L. Bil- 

 lardieri Spring, L. Billardieri var. gracile T. Kirk, L. varium R. Br. Prodr., 

 L. cernuum Linn., L. laterale R. Br. Prodr., L. ramulosum T. Kirk, L. voluhile 

 Forst., L. fastigiatum R. Br. Prodr., and L. scariosum Forst. These prothalli 

 are representative of four out of the five known types. It is a striking 

 fact that these eight species introduce no new types of prothallus beyond 

 those which have become known through the researches especially of Treub 

 and Bruchmann, but they present some very interesting variations from 

 those types. ■ The prothallus of L. cernuum has been, of course, known to 

 science since Treub's papers on several tropical species studied by him 

 in Java were published, but the other seven mentioned above have only 

 recently become known. Two other workers have published the results of 

 their investigations on the prothalli of several of the New Zealand species — 

 namely, Miss Edgerley (4) and Professor C. J. Chamberlain (3) — the former's 

 paper dealing with L. voluhile, L. scariosum, and L. Billardieri, and the 

 latter's with L. voluhile, L. scariosum, and L. laterale. 



The present paper is on the structure of the prothallus of the five species 

 L. Billardieri, L. Billardieri var. gracile, L. varium, L. cernuum, L. laterale, 

 and L. ramulosurn. I hope to publish a similar account with regard to 

 L. voluhile, L. fastigiatum, and L. scariosum in a fifth part. 



The literature dealing with the various other species — European, Tropical, 

 and American — which have been described is enumerated below at the begin- 

 ning of the sections to which they respectively belong. Several of these 

 papers I have not had access to, but have had to depend for my know- 

 ledge of 'them on brief . summaries and figures copied from them in various 

 standard books of reference. This is, of course, unfortunate, as it has made 

 less possible for the purpose of this paper a full comparative study of the 

 different types of Lycopodium prothalli. 



I am glad to record my thanks to Dr. Charles Chilton, Professor of 

 Biology, at Canterbury College, for the interest he has always shown in 

 my work, and for his kind permission to use the biological laboratory of 

 Canterbury College from time to time. I desire also here to recall and 

 acknowledge the guidance of Professor- A. P. W. Thomas, who first 

 suggested to me, when working under him in the biological laboratory 

 at Auckland University College, the study of the New Zealand species of 

 Lycopodium. 



7— Trans. 



