THE LOEANTHACE^ OF CEYLON. 103 



gradually enlarges, and at the same time the root quickly penetrates the host. Whether 

 attachment be thus made or not, two small linear ovate leaves (figs. 5 and C, PI. X.), 

 rich in chlorophyll, arise, appearing beside tlie slit which represents a gap in the fusion 

 of the cotyledons, and through which the epicotyl, at a later stage, appears (fig. 4, PI. X.). 

 Even in seedlings whose " roots " have not penetrated a host, these green leaves show 

 starch-formation, and possibly this explains the fact that these seedlings are capable 

 of enduring for 4 or more weeks, although the root has not entered a host. Another 

 factor which contributes to this power of endurance is the appearance of a beautifully 

 transparent resin on the general surface of the endosperm (from the ultimate breaking 

 down of the viscin layer), and especially covering (fig. 5, PI. X.) the white, 2 mm. long 

 root, which grows out from the free end of the hypocotyl. 



After contact with the host is made, a foot-like structure, brown in colour, arises 

 between the green hypocotyl and the host. This may perhaps be regarded as equivalent 

 to the suctorial disc or swollen head of the hypocotyl of such species as Loranthus 

 loniceroides. As maturity approaches, this foot increases in thickness, and so too does 

 the green part of the hypocotyl ; the plumule, on the other hand, remains for a long 

 time very short (a characteristic of almost all the Cingalese species). Thus a plant a 

 month old consists of a swollen foot which has grown in all directions more than the 

 hypocotyl, and a very short jilumule, which bears two or three or even more leaves. 

 Later, the plumule elongates rapidly. 



L. longijlorus. — On germination, the short hypocotyl becomes rapidly and sharply 

 bent just below its discoidal head ; the cotyledons, as in L. neelgherren^is, L. loniceroides, 

 and other species, remain in the endosperm and are not usually withdrawn from it. 

 From the free surface of the olive-green head the ** root-structure " begins soon, whether 

 the disc is attached to an appropriate host or not, to grow out as a small brownish 

 proiectiou (figs. 15 a, 6, c, PI. X.), and often before this root has pierced the host's tissue 

 leaves appear issuing from the slit already referred to. It is noteworthy that tliese 

 leaves are acicular, very unlike the " orbicular oblong elliptic or linear obtuse" * leaves 

 of the mature plant, which mature leaves the same authority also notes to be " infinitely 

 variable in shape." The discoidal head of the hypocotyl bears at its edge cilia-like 

 projections, which, like the rest of the head, are of a dark colour. 



In conclusion, Griffith f, in his classical papers on the Loranthaceae, mentions that in 

 L. Sciirrula, as the fruit ripens, the " viscin " disappears ; this is not altogether typical. 

 Thus, in L. neelgherrensis and L. cuneatus, the ripening of the fruit is accompanied by a 

 change in, not an absorption of, the viscin. In these species the very resinous viscin of 

 the unripe seed gives place to a more watery, but still very sticky, gum-like substance, 

 which has the property of " setting " on exposure to the air. In other species, 

 e. g. L. Hooker ianus, L. Gardneri^ in the ripe fruits, the viscin persists, and is 

 extremely sticky in the region of the head of the hypocotyl. 



* Hooker, Fl. Brit. India, vol. v. p. 215. 



t Griffitli, '• The Development of the Ovule of Loranthus and . Trans. Linn. 8oc. vol. :iviu. part i. 



