402 Boewig on the Histology and 



show contents that take up stain, strongly suggesting muci- 

 lage. This layer is in every respect like the loose parenchyma 

 of the leaf, and the one external to it like the palisade layer 

 of the leaf. The endodermis is a sharply marked row of 

 empty, brick-shaped cells. 



The receptacular tube is fused with the fruit proper only 

 at the lower end by an irregular growth of small cells from 

 the one into the other. 



The fruit and seed have been thus described by Bentham :* 



"Fruit drupaceous, completely enclosed in the enlarged 

 persistent and succulent perianth tube, usually crowned by 

 the small persistent segments. Seed with a membranous 

 testa. Embryo with thick fleshy cotyledons, distinct at an 

 early stage, but completely consolidated when ripe, assuming 

 the appearance of a fleshy albumen, at the base of which the 

 plumula simulates the embryo." 



The fruit shows an external layer or epicarp of brick- 

 shaped cells, each with a faint nucleus and protoplasm (5). 

 Within this are five to seven layers of thin-walled cells, the 

 mesocarp, containing starch grains and chloroplasts (6). 

 Internal to the last is a layer of shallow, greatly indurated 

 cells, which in exact morphology should be regarded as the 

 innermost of the mesocarp layers (7). It consists of a con- 

 tinuous line of square cells, clear-looking, with large round 

 nuclei. As the fruit ripens, these remain unchanged below, 

 and are distinguished from the more external parts by their 

 regular and small size. Above the thickest part of the inner 

 layer they rather suddenly elongate, narrow out and become 

 filled with cellulose, the nuclei becoming obscure, until a cap 

 forms over the top of the seed. 



The remaining layer (8), from an early stage, is some- 

 what broader than the preceding. In the young state its 

 cells are cubical and thin-walled in the basal portion of the 

 fruit, with large round nuclei. Toward the upper end they 

 become narrower, deep-yellowish, with thickening, and show 

 elongated nuclei. With maturity this elongation and thick- 



* Flora Australiensis, Vol. V. 



