Morphologie, Teratologie, Befruchtung, Cytologie. 627 



telbar den Embryosack. Der oberste wird zum Kern der Eizelle, 

 der unterste zum Antipodenkern. Die zwei übrigen stellen Polkerne 

 dar. Synergiden kommen niemals vor. Bei Plumbagella findet dem- 

 nach die kleinste denkbare Zahl von Kernteilungen statt, die zur 

 Ausbildung eines befruchtungsfähigen Embryosackes leiten kann. 

 Im Anschluss an die gefundenen Tatsachen diskutiert Verf. die 

 Stellung des neuen Typus zu früher bekannten Fällen von vierker- 

 nigen Embryosacken. G. Samuelsson (Upsala), 



Hole, R. S., Development ofthe Culms ofGrasses, (Forest 

 Bulletin N». 25. 1914. Indian Forest Research Institute)- 



Some of the species of grasses, dominant in the Savannah lands 

 of Indian forest and of considerable economic importance are peren- 

 nial and therefore it is a matter of practical importance to deter- 

 mine the age of the culms of any particular species. It bears on 

 such questions as the best rotation to select in grasses grown for 

 paper pulp, and the liability of species to fire-damage at particular 

 seasons. 



The writer had already pointed out that grass culms as a rule 

 exhibit two periods of growth — a preparatory period of slow 

 growth, usually characterized by short internodes, and a sub- 

 sequent period of vigorous growth, characterized as a rule, by 

 long internodes. The comparison of various perennial species 

 indicated that a generalisation could be arrived at correlating the 

 average number of internodes and the number of months consti- 

 tuting the period of vigorous growth. In the case of a perennial, 

 however, the age of the plant and its previous treatment cause com- 

 plications which do not apply to an annual. It was therefore decided 

 to test the generalisation in the case of a selected annual species. 

 For this purpose the common Wheat {Triticum vulgare, Vill.) was 

 selected and it is with this experiment, and the statistics obtained, 

 that the present paper principally deals. As a result, it was found 

 that the periods of preparatory and vigorous growth are well distin- 

 guished by the length of the internodes and though the same num- 

 ber of leaf bearing internodes is produced in both stages, the 

 former period is approximately ^\^ of the latter. The same determi- 

 nations are applied to the axillary culms, where the conditions of 

 growth are slightly different. From these and other facts, the author 

 States that it is possible to frame a generalisation to include both 

 annual and perennial species, viz. — "the average number of leaf- 

 bearing long internodes produced in a culm (i, e. excluding the 

 apical Segment terminating in the inflorescence) is approximately 

 equal to the number of months comprising the period of vigorous 

 growth." In conclusion, the importance of further Observation on the 

 subject is pointed out, especially as it is hoped that a correlation 

 on somewhat similar lines may be found to apply to some of the 

 valuable bamboos. E. M. Jesson (Kew). 



Raunkiaer, C Gymnospermi hos Knowltonia vesicatoria. (Bot. 

 Tidsskrift. XXXIII. p. 379. 2 textfig. 1914.) 



The author has found Ktwwltonia vesicatoria {Ranunculaceae) 

 producing "gymnospermous" ovules in a green-house ofthe Botanical 

 Garden of the University of Copenhagen. All ovaries showing a 

 free ovule at the basis of their style were empty, so that it became 



