INTRODUCTION TO TABLES 7, 9-1 1 



(Wilder, in press b) 



* 



W 



of cyclanthaceous laminae exhibit either two (adaxial and abax- 

 ial) or three main regions of mesophyll (adaxial, middle, and 

 abaxial; Table 7). The adaxial region is only sometimes a palisade 

 region, whereas, the middle and abaxial regions are spongy 

 mesophyll. Regions of mesophyll are distinguished mostly ac- 

 cording to features of ordinary parenchyma cells. These cells may 

 exhibit various ergastic materials, including starch, tannin, and 

 different kinds of crystals. In certain species some cells also 

 contain star figures, i.e., small or large stellate inclusions tenta- 

 tively interpreted as tannin. In most species ordinary parenchyma 

 cells are essentially monomorphic, but in two species of Dkran- 

 opygium these cells exhibit pronounced dimorphism (Table 8). 

 Fibers occur in the mesophyll of all species studied, but differ 

 quantitatively between various species (Tables 9-11). Paren- 

 chyma-like dead cells were observed in several and all species of 

 the Asplundia group and Sphaeradenia group, respectively, but 

 only such cells of the Sphaeradenia group exhibited conspicuously 

 birefringent cell walls. Those dead cells with birefringent walls, 

 therefore, constitute an extremely important systematic- 

 anatomical character within the Cyclanthaceae. 



♦Table no. 8 is included in Wilder (in press /?), where it is listed as Table I. 



118 



