MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. 95 



more than a third of the normal size of the stems, although the tubers 

 still contained a comparatively enormous amount of reserve food. 

 The flower buds remained unopened and the leaves perished 

 quickly. It is quite probable that the limited action shown by this 

 species was due to the temperature, which was much higher than that 

 encountered in the open air during its period of blooming. The 

 plant would need the capacity of elongation to free itself from the 

 layers of leaves which accumulate to some depth in its habitats. 



Cocos nucifera L.^^^ 

 A number of cocoanuts in the husk, freshly arrived from Jamaica, 

 placed in moist soil in December, 1899, ^o^" germinated, and were 



Fig. 51. Cocos nucifera. Shoot of normal plantlet. 



placed in the dark room in February, 1900. Leaves were formed 



from the plantlets which differed from the normal chiefly in a slight 



'32 See Kirkwood and Gies. Chemical Studies of the Cocoanut and its Changes 

 During Germination. Bull. Torr. Club 29 : 321-359. 1902. 



