COXJ: of SELAdiyEI.LA PALLIDI^SIMA. L^s.-» 



roproductiitn in some Indian SelnjJiinellus' has described ' surface-tubers' in 

 .S. c/iri/s'icdKl-js, which provide for vegetative proiuiiiatiou in that species 

 {2). The buds in V. jxillidi.-^simu are nuieh smaller, though (piite as compact 

 as those of 'S. chiy.<ocaido.<. The writer has not been able to liud any begin- 

 nings of rhi/.ophorea in them, so that he cannot sny whether or not these 

 correspond to the ' surface-tubers' of .S. cltriinocaidos. He tliitdcs that tliey 

 might be of the nature of ' winter-buds' of the higher plants, which simply 

 protect the growing apex from inclement weather. 



The Cone. 



Tiie cone generally forms a branched structure up to ."» cm. long (Fig. '2). 

 Baker, however, gives ^--1 inch as the size of the cone (1). This is due, per- 

 haps, either to his not recognizing the branched nature of the cone, or his 

 examining only very small specniiens. The branched nature is clearly 

 proved by the presence of sporangia in the whole of the branched structure 

 (Fig. '!). Besides, it is not uncommon to find indiviilual fertile branches 

 measuring about o"5 cm. in length. The sporophylls are not situated 

 very compactly on the axis, but are placed at a little distance — about ■(> 

 mm. in the lower and 'lo nun. in the upper si)orophylls — from each other, 

 so that portions of the axis lying between the consecutive leaves are clenrly 

 visible through the upper sporophylls (Fig. ^^, ax). The sporangia, as a 

 rule, lie in the axil of the sporophylls of the lower plane onlj', the upper sporo- 

 phylls being generally sterile. This peculiaritj' is very interesting, because 

 as far as the writer could find out it is supposed that in the genus >Se/fi>/i)ir-lla 

 each of the sporoi)hylls, except sometimes the basal ones, has a sporangium 

 in its axil. Miss Mitchell in her paper on 'The Anatomy of the (ienus 

 Selagineila" writes, ' The leaves,' meaning those of the cone, • are hollowed 

 to acconmiod;ite the sporangia which arise one in the axil of each leaf' 

 (8). Bower in his book ' The Origin of a Land Flora ' says: 'In fai't its 

 (of sporangium) position may vary in diti'erent species, though the numerical 

 relation of one to each leaf is strictly maintained' (3). These assertions 

 might n\ean that only ow sporangium — imf tiro cr more — is found in the 

 axil of each sporophyll, or that cncli sporophyll bears a sporangium in its 

 axil. Miss Mitchell actualU' says that in the elongated cones of S Iwhetica, 

 .">'. Walichii,S. orei/ana and S.JlnheUata the middle region is freipientl}' sterile 

 (8). Campbell, however, clearly writes on this point that ' the basal leaves 

 of the strobilus may be sterile, but usually each sporophyll subtends a 

 sporangium ' (4). In all the species which the writer examined, except X. 

 imlVulUdma each sporophyll did subtend a sporangium. The total absence 

 of the sporangia from the axil of the upper sporophylls, therefore, becomes 

 very characteri.stic. 



The distribution of sporangia on the cone is usually indiscriminate, the 

 megasporangia not alwaj's being confined to the basal regions. In number 

 the latter are comparatively fewer than the microsporangia. A megaspor- 

 angium on an average measures -8 mm. across, and a microsporangunn 

 •6o mm. along the long axis, the latter being ' saddle-shaped'. 



Inequality in the size of mega-spores is also not uncommon, sometimes 

 the whole cone having its megasporangia each containing two large and 

 two small megaspores. The megaspore ordinarily measures about ••'Jo mm. 

 across, but in cases of inequality of spores, the big megaspore measures 

 about •4 mm. and the small one about "1 mm. in diameter. The microspore 

 measures about 'Ol mm. across. The colour of megasporangia is yellow 

 and that of microsporangia brownish red. 



The sporophylls are dimorphotis and ' homostachous'. Those of the lower 

 plane are ovato-cordate, erecto-patent, shortly ciliated and slightly 



