J 
382 WoopDBURN: DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMBRYO SAC 
endosperm formation is quite clear. (Compare FIG. 10, 11, and 
12.) Development proceeds more rapidly in the micropylar 
portion, which may be for a time separated from the opposite or 
chalazal region (FIG. 11). The cellular endosperm continues its 
inward development until the entire cavity is filled. In the region 
formerly occupied by the egg there are usually remnants of broken 
down tissue (FIG. 12). Although the sections were all examined 
carefully, there were no indications of a pollen tube having pene- 
trated, nor of an embryo at least as far as the ovule. 
The development of the endosperm in the seedless persimmon 
agrees with that noted within recent years for a few other plants 
but not conforming to the generally accepted theory of endosperm 
development in angiosperms. 
Juel (’98) found that the polar nuclei in Antennaria come close 
together but do not fuse. On the contrary they separate and 
form endosperm at the same time that the egg parthenogenetically 
develops an embryo. 
Coulter (’98), in Ranunculus multifidus, found free nuclear 
formation of endosperm before fertilization. He suggests that 
the presence of the pollen tube in the pistil may cause this pre- 
mature formation. Practically the same conditions with no 
evidence of fertilization were observed by Smith (98) in Eich- 
hornia crassipes. _ 
Overton (’02) discovered along with parthenogenesis in 
Thalictrum purpurascens the endosperm nucleus always. dividing 
before the egg. Johnson (’o2) found similar conditions in Piper 
medium and Heckeria umbellata. 
Coker (’07) observed endosperm development in Pontederia 
cordata and Heteranthera limosa taking place in two distinct 
regions, a smaller antipodal and a larger micropylar. I find that 
somewhat the same condition may obtain in the seedless persim- 
mon, except that the chalazal portion in the latter is relatively 
much larger than those figured by Coker for Pontederia and Heter- 
anthera. ‘The figures of Smith (’08) show a striking similarity to 
my FIG. 10 and It. 
CONCLUSIONS 
That any of these features are constant for the seedless per- 
simmon is not at all certain, on the contrary there seems to be 
