4 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JANUARY 
The adult pistillate flower presents unusual proportions; the 
diameter of the floral tube is about 0.3™™, while its length in 
_ extreme cases may be over 30°", in such an instance the flower 
being one thousand times longer than wide. The lower part is 
invested by the spathe, which is 2to 3°" long. The sessile ovary 
at the time of pollination is about 4™™ long and less than 1™™ in 
diameter. 
The staminate flower originates in the same general manner 
as the pistillate, and in early stages they might easily be con- 
fused. The later development of the pollen-bearing flower 
differs markedly, as it shows none of the complexities described 
above. The receptacle, instead of pushing up into a floral tube, 
becomes merely conical, and gives rise in turn to sepals, outer 
stamens, inner stamens, and very much later the corolla, which 
is not prominent and may be quite rudimentary (figs. 13-22). A 
conical protuberance is often seen in the center of the flower to 
which the inner stamens may be adnate for a part of their length 
(fig. 22). That part of the pedicel between the insertions of 
spathe and sepals elongates slightly and develops large air 
chambers (jig. 22). It is at the upper end of this region that 
the break occurs which sets free the flower at maturity, The 
_ exact mode of detachment was not determined. 
THE FEMALE GAMETOPHYTE. 
The female gametophyte is developed while the floral tube is 
elongating toward the surface of the water. The tube had a 
length of about 4™™ when the primary sporogenous cell was 
established; was twice that long when the ovule contained a 
2-celled embryo sac; and had attained a length of 15™™ at the 
8-celled stage. 
The single archesporial cell (fg. 23) cuts off a primary 
parietal cell which ordinarily divides first by an anticlinal wall 
(fig. 24). The details of development of the parietal tissue were 
not studied, but it seems to be very limited in amount and 
probably does not persist long. 
The primary sporogenous cell enlarges greatly, and in its 
division the spindle lies wholly in the outer half of the cell (fig. 
25). The resultant cells differ greatly in size, the deeper one 
