768 



A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



conical swellings appear on each side of the apex, at the base of the cotyledons. 

 They are probably arrested axillary buds, but they become hard and scaly 



Img. 768. — U'tliiitsc/iia mirabilis. Old plants growing in Naniib Desert 

 in South West Africa showing reproductive strobili arising around 

 the margin of the stem and longitudinal splitting of the old leaves. 



(Photograph supplied by the University of Coimbra, Portugal.) 



Fig. 769. — Wekvitschia mirabilis. Young plant showing 

 the two leaves which persist throughout the life of the 

 plant and the tuberous stem. 



and spread until they cover the stem apex, which disappears under their 

 united bodies. Meanwhile the axis is broadening by intercalary growth, and 



