297 



Notes on Some Botanical Reading Done in tlie Laboratory of Prof, 



Schwendener in Berlin, in June and July, 1889. * 



By Emily L. Gregory, Ph. D. 



This botanical reading, as it is termed in the heading of my 

 paper, was not undertaken with an object of studying any one 

 Hne of work, but rather with that of acquainting myself with the 

 principal botanical work which has occupied the northern botan- 



ists of Germany since the year 1886, and more especially during 

 the latter part of that time. 



One of the first subjects taken up was that of Mycorhiza. 

 A point of interest for me in this was the summary manner 

 in which Prof. Schwendener disposes of the question of sym- 

 biosis among plants. One of the first elaborate papers on the 

 Mycorhiza is that of Prof Frank, published in the " Berichte der 

 deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft " in 1885. This publication 

 called forth comments from several authors claiming priority of 

 discovery. Prof Woronin claims that the principal facts given 

 in this paper of Frank's were published some time previous by 



Hypopitys Monoh 



Rees 



has an article in the same journal in which he says a fungus, very 

 similar to the one described by Frank, was discovered and 

 named by him, Elaphomyces. However this may be, it is beyond 

 controversy that Frank is the first one to give a detailed ac- 

 count of this singular growth. He defines the term Mycorhiza 

 as the " peculiar organ of the root of the family Cupulifcraj and 

 some other plants, which organ is formed by a union of fungus 

 hyphae and the root itself" The other plants referred to here 

 are some of the Conifers and a few of the Ericacca:. 



As is very well known, the organ of the plant for obtaming 

 nourishment from the soil is the root hair. These hairs occur 

 at a short distance back of the growing tip of the rootlets, 



forming a little zone of varying width around the young root. 

 They die off as the root extends itself in length, new ones 

 springing out near the tip, so that these real food organs of the 

 plant are constantly being renewed as the young rootlet grows in 

 length only from the tip. In those plants where the Mycorhiza 



Abstract of a paper read before the Club, Oct. 23J. 



