172 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [September 



whether the two cells are body cells or male cells. If the third suppo- 

 sition is true then there are four prothallial nuclei, a generative cell, and 

 the tube nucleus. 



In a number of preparations there seemed to be a cell on the side 

 of the body cell opposite the stalk cell (fig. 27), but in no case could 

 I satisfy myself of the presence of a nucleus; though in view of the 

 figures published by Jeffrey and Chrysler it was diligently looked 

 for. In fig. 27 is shown a mass at one end of this "cell," which may 

 stand for a degenerating nucleus, although I think not. It is very 

 indistinct and may very well be a mere aggregation of slightly denser 

 cytoplasm. By constructing a model of the cell complex, where 

 the body cell has sunk down between the cells of the second tier of 

 the prothallus, and then cutting it so that the section will pass about 

 centrally through stalk and body cell and include most of one-half 

 of them and take a slice off the prothallial cells lying beyond them, 

 it is possible to get preparations which show cell walls in the position 

 shown in the figure. Hence it is not certain that in this species there 

 are two lateral derivatives of the generative cell, as seems to be the 

 case in the species mentioned by Jeffrey and Chrysler (4). 



The dividing nuclei of the species of Podocarpus here investigated 

 show uniformly twelve chromosomes in cases where they could be 

 certainly counted (figs. 14, 27, 32), and twenty-four were counted 

 several times, with less certainty, in the sporogenous tissue of P. sp. 

 In this it conforms to the count for all other gymnosperms so far 

 as known except Taxus, with eight and sixteen (Strasburger 12), 

 and Sequoia, with sixteen and thirty-two (Lawson 7). 



It is not possible to speak with certainty concerning the stage at 

 which the pollen is shed without knowing over how long a time shed- 

 ding continues, and without actually having gathered pollen as it 

 is shed naturally. But from cones that were apparently ready to shed 

 their pollen, stages were obtained in P. nivalis running from the 

 microspore to gametophytes with two prothallial cells, generative cell, 

 and tube nucleus. It often happens that both extremes may be found 

 in the same sporangium. In P. sp. no cones were apparently old 

 enough to shed their pollen, though the oldest had essentially the 

 same structure as those of the species just mentioned. In the cones 

 of P. totarra Hallii the range appears to be still wider, for the oldest 



