114 ttLLERlNG In li^iDIAN SUGARCAl^fiS 



the Chin allies being very lightly fixed together, while in the Pansalii gioup 

 there were thick, broad attachments which gave the impression of growth 

 in thickness for some time after their formation. While then, it was very 

 difficult to do the Saretha dissections, it was always easy to lay out great sectors 

 of the Pansahi clumps with all the branches attached. The firmness of the 

 attachment is of some importance as a group character and notes have been 

 recorded on it. 



Another more puzzling factor was the frequent deaths of both young 

 and old branches. There seemed to be some ground for assuming that, when a 

 stem died, its place would be taken by one of its branches, which would lake 

 on its characters in whole or in part and thus beccme a facidtative hranch of a 

 lower order. Li other words, when an a died, its place might be taken by 

 one or more 6s, which would assume a characters. This would, of course, interfere 

 fundamentally with the typical diagram, as well as the distinction of the 

 classes a and b in that plant. We have seen that there are a number of charac- 

 ters by which we can distinguish between the branches of successive orders^ 

 and we have always kept an eye open for the presence of facultative branches. 

 And there have been, undoubtedly, a number of cases where these occurred ; 

 but in the great majority of the specimens examined, the death of an a did 

 not seem to have a very great influence on the measurements of 6s and subse- 

 quent branches foimed. There were, however, all stages between a very 

 slight or doubtful influence and an obvious facultative 6, so that, wherever 

 possible, plants with sound as were used for dissection. Some varieties appear 

 to be much more liable to lose their as than others ; for instance, in Saretha, 

 it was found impossible to do without a considerable number of missing as 

 in spite of a large number of clumps dissected. It is probable that the time at 

 which death occurs has a considerable influence in the matter. If it occurred 

 when the successors had already formed their basal joints, its influence 

 would be small, as our observations have been confined to the lower parts of 

 the cane. If, on the other hand, the death of a shoot occurred very early, it would 

 be quite possible for a facultative branch to take its place for the purpose of 

 producing the necessary number of shoots in the plant. Although the foima- 

 tion of such a facultative ]?ranch is by no means a necessary sequel to the early 

 death of a shoot, it somewhat seriously interferes with the regularity of the 

 diagram. For instance, if a c dies after its basal portion is foimed, it gives 

 rise to one or more d&, and thus lengthens the formula. A case of this can be 

 seen in the diagrams illustrating the branching of Thick canes (PI. XXXII, 

 lower figure). There are two plants in the clump and their formulae are, 

 for the smaller plant, a + 46-f lc + 2(^ + e, and, for the larger, a + 46 + 6c-f(Z. 



