82 Anatomie. — Morphologie etc. 



lary ray structure and the structure of the leaf trace. The traumatic 

 resin canals of Araucariopitys are discussed. 



Agnes Arber (Cambridge), 



Blackman, V. H. and E. G. Welsford. Fertilization in 

 Lilium. (Ann. Bot. XXVII. p. 111—114. 1 pl. 1913.) 



The authors point out that although the fertilization in Lilium 

 has been so often studied, no adequate figures showing the details 

 of the process have ever been published. The figures in the present 

 paper show fertilization stages in L. rnartagon and L. auratum. 

 There is a complete absence of male cells, even in the stage in 

 which the nuclei have only just left the pollen-tube. The male 

 nucleus fusing with the polar nuclei is always somewhat larger and 

 more contorted than that which fuses with the female nucleus. 



The authors have been led, by their studies of these two spe- 

 cies, to the view held by Nawaschin for the forms which he has 

 studied, that the male nuclei have the power of movement, and by 

 their own activity make their way to the nuclei with which they fuse. 



Agnes Arber (Cambridge). 



£aines, A, j., The Morphologv oi Agaihis australis. (Ann. Bot. 

 XXVII. p. 1—38. 4 pl. 92 Text-figs. 1913.) 



Collections of the strobili of the Kauri Pine, Agathis anstralis 

 (Lamb.) Steud., were made in New Zealand in 1910 and 1911. A 

 detailed and fully illustrated account of the gametophytes, the fer- 

 tilization and the development of the embryo is based upon this 

 material. 



The mature female gametophyte is club-shaped, the larger 

 Upper section bearing numerous scattered archegonia. The archego- 

 nial jacket is incomplete near the neck, the cells of which are thick- 

 walled and form a complex which resists the entrance of the pollen- 

 tube. The pollen germinates in the axil cone scale, no micropyle 

 being diflferentiated at that time. Long, branching haustorial pollen- 

 tubes penetrate the cone axis, also the phloem and even the xylem 

 of the Scale traces. 



The two male Clements are cells, somewhat unequal in size, 

 limited by delicate walls. The nucleus equals in size that of the egg. 



The fusion nucleus maintains a central position in the archego- 

 nium, and five or six consecutive free nuclear divisions ensue. The 

 mature pro-embryo is complex. Of its three tiers the median is the 

 embryo proper, the upper forms suspensors, and the lower is a 

 penetrative and protective cap. 



The author points oiu that the history of the gametophyte and 

 embryo of Agathis emphasizes the isolated position of the Arauca- 

 rineae. He regards the many peculiar features in the life history as 

 implying strong specialization ralher than primitive conditions. In 

 Support of this view he lays special stress upon the following points: 

 the supernumerary nuclei supplied for the long, branching pollen- 

 tubes; the megaspore membrane cap to protect the young arche- 

 gonia; the pollen-tube tip that prepares access to several deep-seated 

 archegonia; the lack of jacket-cells at the top of the archegonium; 

 ephemeral ventral canal nucleus; the pro-embryo formation in a 



