CONIFERALES 



283 



In the Podocarpaceae there are two sporangia. The sporophylls 

 are generally small, but are often very numerous, in long, slender 

 cones. 



Fig. 286. — Araucaria cunninghami: a spray of staminate strobili, at Rockhampton, 

 Queensland, Australia; about one-half natural size. The strobili are from 5 to 8 centi- 

 meters in length. 



The dehiscence is longitudinal, as in Pinus, in the greater number 

 of cases, but often transverse, as in Abies. In some cases it is oblique, 

 as in Picea. 



Microsporogenesis. — ^The development of the microsporangium 

 and its microspores is the usual development of a eusporangiate spo- 

 rangium, and, in the earlier stages, does not differ much from that 



