iqi61 CHAMBERLAIN— STANGERIA PARADOX A 357 



it may happen that only a single branch will bear a leaf, and in 

 that case the branching is not discovered until the soil is removed. 



The stem is monoxylic, with a single very narrow zone of wood 

 between the large pith and cortex. A stem gem. in diameter had 

 a zone of xylem only 2 mm. wide, and even in this zone the bundles 

 were separated by a large amount of parenchyma. That this plant 

 was an old one was evident, not only from its size, but also from the 

 fact that it had borne several cones. In the held, cones are not 

 abundant, about one coning plant in six being a liberal estimate. 

 No observations have been made to show at what age Stangcria 

 begins to bear cones, but some 5-year old seedlings in our green- 

 house are only 2 cm. in diameter. We did not see any cones on 

 plants less than 5-6 cm. in diameter, and we should judge that the 

 specimen must have been at least 30 years old, perhaps much older. 

 The display of woody tissue is the scantiest I have ever seen in any 

 cycad of even approximately equal age. 



Cone domes are numerous and are of the type already noted for 

 Dioon, Zamia, and Ceratozamia (13). The main stem, therefore, 

 is a sympodium, as are any branches which have borne more than 

 one cone. 



Sporangia 



Although cones are rather infrequent, material can generally 

 be secured in localities where the plants are abundant. 



Megasporangium. — The ovulate cone looks like that of Dioon 

 spinulosum, only very much smaller, the similarity being due to the 

 densely hairy surface and the thin rounded border of the blade 

 portion of the sporophyll. The ovules, during earlier stages of 

 development, are almost completely inclosed by outgrowths of the 

 sporophyll, suggesting the angiosperm condition; but later the 

 ovules grow rapidly and soon protrude beyond the outgrowths, 

 which do not develop much after the ovules reach a length of 

 4-5 mm. At maturity the ovules have a rich orange color which 

 is quite characteristic. 



Early stages in the development of the ovule have been studied 

 by Lang (5), and its vascular anatomy has been described in detail 

 by Worsdell (4) and by Matte (7). 



