404 Boewig on the Histology and 
consisting of two cotyledons that are not always of equal 
size, and that twist about each other somewhat; between 
them is a little doubly conical fleshy radicle, with papery 
indications of one or two plumular leaves. Bentham speaks 
on this subject as follows :* 
“The cotyledons are so completely consolidated in the ripe 
seed that Gaertner described them as a fleshy albumen, mis- 
taking the plumula, which is at least as much developed as in 
other Laurineae, for the embryo. R. Brown pointed out 
this error, and Griffith and others figured the real embryo 
with a distinct line of separation between the two cotyledons. 
In the dried fruits I had at my disposal, I could not detect 
any such demarcation, and I should have followed Gaertner 
in describing the seeds as albuminous had it not been for 
Brown’s very decided contradiction, more especially as 
Colonel Champion, in some sketches made from the living 
plant in Hong Kong, seemed to confirm Gaertner’s view. 
On writing, however, to Dr. Thwaites in Ceylon, he has 
kindly examined fresh seeds, and fully corroborates Brown’s 
and Griffith’s statements, explaining the discrepancies by the 
circumstance that it is only at an early stage that the cotyle- 
dons are clearly distinct, the line of demarcation becoming 
obliterated long before maturity.” 
To this I may add that the Florida material showed even 
in the fully ripened state a distinct line of demarcation 
between the two cotyledons, although they cannot be pulled 
apart as in the younger seed. I find further that the cotyle- 
dons remain distinct up to about the period when induration 
of the endocarp commences. I find, moreover, that the two 
cotyledonary epidermal layers facing each other remain quite 
distinct morphologically, but that they seem to be adherent 
by means of some cementing substance. These epidermal 
layers consist of fairly regular semi-columnar cells, whose 
flat faces are apposed, with the cementing substance between. 
The bulk of the cotyledons is composed of large rounded 
* Flora Australiensis, Vol. V. 
