48 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



Water Lily Distribution. — Shortly after the water 

 lily flowers are pollinated, the seed capsule is withdrawn be- 

 neath the surface of the water where the seeds ripen. The 

 seeds are ultimately released by the rupture of the tissues sur- 

 rounding them but as the seeds are hard, round and too heavy 

 to float, the prospect of their being- distributed very far does 

 not appear to be good until the function of another structure 

 of the plant is investigated. This structure is the aril — an 

 outgrowth from the seed-stalk that grows up and encloses the 

 seed. The scarlet pulpy substance that surrounds the seeds 

 of the bitter sweet (Celastrus) and the burning bush 

 (Eiwnymns) are good illustrations of arils. The aril of the 

 water lily seed is buoyant and as soon as the seed pod releases 

 its contents, the seeds by this means are brought to the surface 

 of the water. Upon reaching the surface, according to a writer 

 in Science, the seeds separate from one another spontaneously, 

 even though the air and water are perfctly still, and soon make 

 their way to distant parts of the pond or tank in which they 

 are growing. The cause of this movement is as yet unex- 

 plained. The writer quoted inclines to the belief that it is due 

 to differences in surface tension caused by substances excreted 

 by the aril. After some hours the aril splits, curls up and the 

 seeds sink to the bottom of the water. 



The RemarkabIle Coontie. — In many of the waste 

 places of Florida there grows an humble little plant known as 

 the coontie, koonti, or wild sago (Zamia pwnila) which has 

 several claims to the attention of flower lovers. It is a member 

 of the group of Gymnosperms, to which the pines, firs and 

 their allies belong, but is most nearly related to the cycads cul- 

 tivated in all large conservatories. Though a seed plant, it 

 shares with the mosses, ferns and algae the faculty of produc- 

 ing ciliated sperms, such structures being the rule among the 

 lower orders, but practically absent in the flowering plants 

 where a pollen tube is developed. The fern-like or palm-like 

 leaves spring from a thick structure that seems half stem, half 

 root, and which is stored with starch from which a sort of 



