FISHER: SEED DEVELOPMENT IN THE GENUS PEPEROMIA 151 
containing the carpel, only the shield-like top of the bract being 
outside. It is not until after the embryo sac is mature that the 
developing fruit is pushed out. The flowers and consequently 
the fruits are just about as much crowded in this species as they 
are in P. reflexa. There are no hairs on the rachis between the 
flowers as there are in P. reflexa, but there are a few on the peduncle 
of the spike. The absence of hairs on the rachis, together with 
the exserted fruits and thinner epidermis, indicates that this species 
is less xerophytic than P. reflexa. In all essential particulars the 
flowers and fruits of P. scandens closely resemble those of the two 
preceding species. 
In the development of the stamen and pollen, this species very 
closely coincides with that of P. verticillata. 
The development of the carpel and ovule, from the differentia- 
tion of the primary archesporial cell to the practically mature fruit, 
is essentially the same as in P. reflexa. The nucleus of the embryo 
sac mother-cell goes into synapsis before division. Evanescent 
cell-walls frequently appear between the nuclei following the first 
and second divisions in the embryo sac (Fics. 28-31). The mature 
Sac contains sixteen nuclei, of which one becomes the egg and one 
becomes the single synergid (Fic. 34). Of the remaining fourteen 
nuclei, a number varying from six to nine are cut off as peripherals, 
and there is little doubt that the endosperm nucleus is made up 
by the fusion of the remainder of the fourteen, although in many 
cases the number could not be positively determined. 
The difficulty in determining the exact number of nuclei which 
fuse to make up the endosperm nucleus in any species of Peperomia 
Studied by the writer, lies in the fact that usually, if not always, a 
Part of the nucleoli fuse during the process of fusion of the nuclei. 
The nucleoli are excellent indicators of the number of component 
nuclei as long as they remain distinct. But it is comparatively 
tare that one finds in his preparations complete groups of fusing 
endosperm nuclei in which no nucleoli have yet fused. It is true 
that the lobes of the endosperm nucleus and the relative size of 
the nucleoli can frequently be relied upon to indicate to what 
€xtent fusion has proceeded, but not after the fusion is complete. 
A resting stage evidently occurs in this species after the embryo 
Sac has reached the four-nucleate stage, as shown by the relatively 
