Cooke. — Observations on Salicornia australis. 361 



The flowering-branches are thicker than the ordinary branches, and do 

 not taper to a point like those of Salicornia herbacea, shown by-Schimper 

 (4, a). 



A very young flowering-shoot does not differ in appearance from an 

 ordinary one. When the internodes of the ordinary branch lengthen, the 

 difference becomes apparent, since those of the flowering-branch always 

 remain short. 



If a longitudinal section is made (see fig. 9, k) the flowers are seen sessile 

 in the axils of the leaves. The section was made five months before the 

 plant flowers, and even then the perianth was little different from that 

 of a mature flower. 



Flowers are hermaphrodite or polygamous. Several whorls of flowers 

 were examined in order to find some regular arrangement, but none was 

 observable. 



An examination of a large number of flowers shows that the stamens 

 are usually two in number, occasionally one, rarely wanting the pistil of 

 one carpel. 



The perianth is monochlamydeous, fleshy, broad, flat, and quadrangular 

 at the top. The lobes, three in number, fit together, almost closing the 

 mouth. On this quadrangular portion the epidermal cells are very thick- 

 walled and isodiametrical, and there are a number of stomata. Beneath 

 this lies a little chlorenchyma, and then the aqueous tissue. The flowers 

 are narrower at the immersed base, and the epidermis of the perianth here 

 is very thin-walled, and the cells are elongated longitudinally, as in the 

 hypocotyl. 



When the seed is ripe the fleshy perianth persists, the cell-contents dis- 

 appear, and the cell-walls become thickened by regular bands which run 

 in different directions in different cells (see fig. 9. /), and the cells are filled 

 with air. This is evidently an adaptation for dispersal, for by means of this 

 persistent perianth the seeds float on the top of the water for a long time. 

 Seeds were placed in fresh water, and at the end of a week only 3 per cent, 

 of them had sunk. The perianth remains attached to the cotyledons even 

 when the seedling is several months old. 



- 



Androecium. 



Stamens are perigynous, two or one, occasionally there is only one 

 staminode. In the young flower the filament is short, but it is later 

 elongated so that the stamen hangs out of the mouth. When there are 

 two fertile stamens they are protruded successively. There are two large 

 anther-lobes attached to the filament for about half their length. Develop- 

 ment takes place as usual. Each lobe consists of two compartments when 

 the anther is young but when mature of one only. Dehiscence is by a 

 longitudinal crack coinciding with the partition between the two pollen- 

 sacs. The pollen-grains are developed in the usual way. Each has a 

 thickened wall in which there are numerous round pits (see fig. 9, j). 



Gynoecium. 



Ovary is superior, of one carpel, and ovoid, containing one basal ana- 

 tropous ovule. 



Styles, two in number, are papillose, long and narrow, and tapering 

 to a point. 



