400 Transactions. 



out of the soil, and the branches rooting at the tips give rise 

 to new trunks, which in their turn are brought to the ground 

 and repeat the process." 



Auckland Islands ; Ewing Island : " Most of tliem are erect 

 and well-grown, but a few exhibit th.e inclined position so fre- 

 quent on the Snares."* Dr. Cockayne considers that although 

 this prostrate habit is frequently caused by the wind, it may 

 become hereditary. The seedlings which were found in great 

 quantities in the interior of the forest, where the air is com- 

 paratively still, were found by him to have their stems prostrate 

 on the ground for more than half their length (p. 254). So in 

 these cases the tendency had become hereditary. 



There is a plant growing in the shade afforded by a high 

 iron fence on the west side of the laboratory. This plant is 

 quite erect, and shows the characteristic appearance of the leaves. 

 In the older ones the tomentum has fallen off the upper surface, 

 while the younger ones are completely covered and feel " soft 

 as a piece of flannel." 



Anatomy (figs. 12a, 126). — -A cuticle (cut.) is developed on the 

 upper epidermis, thick but smooth. The cells of the upper 

 epidermis (ep.) are much larger than those of the lower (l.&p.), 

 and very thick-walled, in some cases somewhat flattened. In 

 the younger leaves these cells grow out^bo form a tomentum, 

 also with thick walls. The remains of one or two of these hairs 

 may be seen at h in the figure. These hairs fall away the first 

 winter. The lower epidermis (l.e/p.) is irregular in outline, and 

 the small cells grow out into a thick mass of long woolly hairs (h.), 

 chiefly below the veins. These completely protect the projecting 

 stomata (st.). The hairs will serve the double purpose of pro- 

 tecting the stomata from the action of the winds, which tend to 

 cause excessive transpiration, and also serve to retain any water 

 which falls on the leaf. Amongst these hairs and also protected 

 by them are found a number of multicellular bodies, probably 

 glandular, the cells of which contain a small quantity of chloro- 

 phyll (fig. 126). These can assist the plant by absorbing water 

 held in the spaces between the hairs. The stomata (st.) project 

 from the surface, and each guard-cell is accompanied by a sub- 

 sidiary cell which probably aids in opening and closing the stoma. 

 Underneath the upper epidermis is found a tissue from 2-3 cells 

 thick of very large thick-walled cells, probably collenchymatous 

 water-storage tissue (Pierce). The cells are quite empty, and 

 at intervals above the vascular bundles interrupt the palisade 

 parenchyma, and continue down the whole breadth of the sec- 

 tion to the endodermis of the vascular bundle, in some cases pre- 



*Kirk (1891), p. 2 lit. 



