216 Joan Hofme^r 



(4) The plumule develops within this cotyledonary tube and 

 eventually pierces the wall and the resulting shoot comes 

 above the ground. 



(5) Throughout germination the cotyledons remain below the 

 ground and function as a store house upon which th© 

 developing seedling draws its nourishment. 



A similar type of germination is seen in Megarrhiza californica 

 a cucurbitaceous plant found in California (see Asa Gray 

 *• Structural Botany '* 6th ed. p. 20. fig. 43, 44.), but here the 

 cotyledons come above the ground and do not remain below as in 

 the *' Eland's Boentje '*. 



Dr. Schonland informs me that Lubbock in his work on ** Seed- 

 lings ** mentions a cotyledonary tube in Berheridaceae, some 

 Ranunculaceae (Anemone) and in one of the Cucurbitaceae. . In 

 the above examples the plumule disengages itself through a slit 

 in the cotyledonary tube. 



This type of germination should be compared with that of the 

 Date Seed. 



It is very probable that many other peculiar types of germi- 

 nation will be found among our native plants and the investigation 

 opens out an interesting line of research. 



