Cockayne. — Development of Seedlings. 393 



Description of Seedling. 



Boot extremely stouc, tapering, deeply descending, with 

 lateral rootlets mostly from upper half. 



Hypocotyle very short, subterranean, hardly to be distin- 

 guished from the root. 



Cotyledons wither very early, rotund, petiolate. (Too 

 much withered for further description.) 



Leaves at first crowded together, appearing almost radical 

 through the slow development of the internodes, afterwards 

 becommg much more distant ; appear to increase consider- 

 ably with growth of plant for some time ; opposite, short- 

 petioled, spreading, patent, from ovate-oblong to spathulate, 

 pale whitish-green, entire, in one specimen slightly lobed, 

 furnished with many minute scales on both surfaces, and with 

 numerous adpressed hairs on petioles, midribs, and bases of 

 laminae, but more sparingly hairy on surfaces and margins ; 

 laminae narrowing very gradually into petioles ; petioles partly 

 sheathing, and connate at bases. The more early developed 

 leaves are much broader than the later ones. Measurements 

 — Early leaves, 2-5 cm. x 1 cm. ; later leaves, 1-10 cm. x 

 5'5 mm. 



Stem erect, terete, stiff, rather densely covered with ad- 

 pressed white hairs, purple and swollen at the nodes, forming 

 leaf-scars when leaves are shed ; internodes, in plant 5-4 cm. 

 high, 11 ram. long. 



Further development not yet observed. 



No. 427. Gunnera dentata, Kirk. Plate XXXIV., hg. 48. 



Seed gathered from plants growing on very wet clay bank, 

 near Glenorchy, Lake Wakatipu. Germination very slow. 

 Very few seeds germinated, and seedlings of extremely slow 

 growth. 



Description of Seedling. 



Root thick, fleshy, rather short ; afterwards from stem 

 appear fusiform adventitious rootlets, with bright, shining, 

 crimson tip, and furnished with very many extremely slender 

 root-hairs near the base, these at first aerial. 



Hypocotyle short, semi-prostrate, very pale-green, sparsely 

 hairy with straggly hairs. 



Cotyledons very pale-green, 6 mm. x 2 mm. to 4 mm. x 

 2 mm., spathulate, extremely fleshy and succulent, with a few 

 long pale hairs and many minute scales, convex on upper flat 

 on under surface, spreading, with surface almost horizontal. 



1st leaf 5 mm. x 3*5 mm., almost rotund in outline, 

 fleshy, truncate at base, entire for lower half of margin, 

 and coarsely serrate, with two opposite teeth on upper half, 

 and sparingly hairy ; apex lobed, acute ; upper surface of 



