55 

 CRINUM, .rpp. 



(Reference — Cooici-: F. 15. P., II, 748j. 



Crinums are members of a plant, community of Monocoty- 

 ledons occupying wet places like banks of rivers and margins 

 of tanks. Unlike the preceding plant, Trapa hlspinosa, they do 

 not grow under ten feet of water. They are in fact terrestrial 

 and not aquatic. Yet the seeds are adapted to germinate in 

 water however deep it may be. 



The seeds are formed in a capsule and released on the 

 latter rupturing itself, which it does irregularly. On release 

 they either drop on the land or into water which is always 

 close by. The seed is an irregularly shaped rounded mass. The 

 testa is thick, albumen is copious and embryo minute. Should 

 the seed fall into water it does not sink, as the Trapa does. 

 It is, from the beginning of the process of germination to the 

 end of it, much lighter than water. It floats on the water 

 surface, and may be carried by the water far away from the 

 place of its origin. The seed in the floating position puts forth 

 the radicle, which resembles the same in Trapa, but it grows 

 downwards, unlike the latter in which it grew directly upwards. 

 The radicle is not exposed from the beginning. It is at first 

 ensheathed within the single cotyledon. The other end of the 

 cotyledon is embedded in the interior of the albumen. The 

 elongation of the cotyledon outside the seed carries with it 

 the embryonic bud or plumule which, like the radicle, is at 

 first embedded within the cotyledon. Before however this 

 cotyledon has attained a length of about a couple of inches 

 the radicle and its lateral roots burst forth through the free 

 tip of the cotyledon-sheath and young leaves are shot out 

 from near the middle of the same sheath. The tip of the 

 sheath does not leave the seed, even when it has exhausted 

 the store of reserve materials within it. The roots soon after 

 their appearance penetrate the soft mud if the seed lies along- 

 side the border of water, which it generally does as a result 

 of the action of wind. Within a month from the beginning of 



