l8 9i-J Life History of Hy 



11 



the roots are mulched by the decaying wood. The seed- 

 leaves being small and often lying almost flat on the surface, 

 would be observed only by chance; even then there would be 

 nothing in their appearance to connect them with the plant 

 under consideration, unless removed from the earth, when 

 the root by its bright yellow color might indicate the rela- 

 tionship to Hydrastis. 



In germination the cotyledons often arise from the earth 

 separated by an interval of 2mm. or more and sometimes one 

 cotyledon will show itself a day or so before the other one 

 appears. If from any cause the cotyledons are destroyed 

 early in summer the lemon-tinted bud does not grow until the 

 following spring. Usually four different kinds of buds are 

 found on an old plant, viz. large winter buds of two kinds, 

 terminal and axillary; small latent buds, with scales but slight- 

 ly developed; and adventitious buds that are formed on root 

 fibers under certain conditions. 



The winter buds of Hydrastis are large and deserving of 

 special study, not only as illustrating the perfect protection 

 that is so often provided for the tender parts during hiberna- 

 tion, but also as furnishing an excellent example in the mor- 

 phology of leaves, the scales being homologous with stipules. 

 The terminal bud is the largest, and developes the fruiting 

 stem. The axillary bud produces a radical leaf; or, as often 

 occurs, remains dormant for a time. The arrangement of the 

 scales of a terminal bud at the close of the growing season, 

 when the plant has fully completed the preparation for its 

 period of rest, is such that but one, the outer, is truly equitant, 

 the others, each in turn, completely overlapping and enfolding 

 by their hooded and membranaceous expansions the inner till 

 the young shoot itself is enshrouded by the last one. 



On removing the scales at this period the young shoot is 

 found to be large; the plicate foldings of the leaves are easily 

 discovered, but the flower-bud is larger than all the rest, the 

 stem being merely a conical eminence upon which the other 

 parts sit. Yet the stipulate amplexicaul base of the petiole is 

 visible, joined to the leaf, seemingly without the intervention 

 of a leafstalk. The sessile leaf is very small indeed, entirely 

 overshadowed by the comparatively enormous flower-bud 

 whose sepals can easily be counted, and the stamens plainly 

 observed. 



Stipuliform appendages are not a feature of the order Ranun- 



