G THK JOlJ]{N.VL OF BOTANY 



THE SEEDLING FOLIAGE OF ULEX GALLII. 

 By T. A. Speague, B.Sc, F.L.S. 



The occurrence of trifoliolate leaves on the seedlings of VJex has 

 been known for over fifty years. Syme stated that the " first leaves 

 of young seedlings of Ulex are trifoliate, but all the subsequent ones 

 are unifoliate," and that in JJ. euroj^ieus " trifoliate leaves are only 

 present on the plant immediately after germination" (Engl. Bot. 

 ed. 3, iii. 3, 4; 1861). J. D. Hooker described the leaves of JJlex 

 as "trifoliolate in seedling plants" (Student's Fl. 86; 1870), and so 

 did Willkomm and Lange (Frodr. iii. 442; 1880). Wohlfarth 

 stated that the leaves on 3'oung plants of IT. europcBiis were often 

 trifoliolate, trifid or unec|ually bifid (Koch, Syn. ed. 3, i. 48i) ; 

 1891). 



Lubbock, however, seems to have been the first to describe the 

 seedlings of Ulex europfpus in detail {Seedlings, i. 409; 1892). 

 Out of five representative specimens examined by him, one had 

 all the leaves simple, another had the first six pairs trifoliolate, and 

 the succeeding ones simple, and three specimens had trifoliolate, bifolio- 

 late, and simple leaves more or less mixed. Some of the leaves were 

 merely tripartite or bipartite instead of being trifoliolate or bifolio- 

 late. Koehne mentioned that the leaves of tflex are often trifoliolate 

 on the lower branches (Dendrol. 327; 1893); and Ascherson and 

 Graebner stated that trifoliolate leaves occur on young and injured 

 plants of Ulex (Syn, vi. Abt. 2, 281 ; 1907), and that it is especially 

 in gardens on good soil that the lower leaves of Ulex europceus 

 are compound {I.e. 285). 



According to Goebel {Organographie, i. 146; 1898), the seedling 

 of Ulex europcdus bears trifoliolate leaves, apart from the first 

 primary leaves. The results of an examination of 2895 seedlings 

 of Ulex europceus by Boodle (Ann. Bot. xxviii. 527 ; 1914) lend no 

 support to this qualification. Boodle found that the axis usually 

 bears a certain number of trifoliolate leaves after the cotyledons and 

 before the simple leaves. Of the simple leaves those first formed are 

 nearly always fiat, while the later ones are normally spiniform. A 

 few seedlings bore simple leaves onl}^, while others produced trifolio- 

 late leaves in various numbers from one up to twenty or more. In 

 some cases the trifoliolate leaves began directl}^ after the cotyledons, 

 an 1 formed an uninterrupted series succeeded by the simple leaves; 

 in other cases the series of trifoliolate leaves' was preceded, or 

 interrupted, once or many times by simple or bit" oliolate leaves. Two- 

 lobed and three-lobed (or more deeply divided) leaves were occasion- 

 ally present, and among the apparently simple leaves some were 

 noticed which had an articulation at a distance from the base, this 

 being an indication of a compound nature. 



The number of seedlings examined by Boodle was 2895, of which 

 1094 were grown on good soil and 1801 on sand. The seedlings on 

 soil gave an average of 10*79 compound leaves per ]dant, while those 

 on sand gave an average of 8-27, the difference (2-52) amounting to 



