270 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxxii 



find anything of the nature of a scale-leaf bud. It is a 

 green-leaf bud. In this condition they remain during the 

 winter period of rest as incipient stolons. Some of the 

 basal leaves wither, but there is always a group of green 

 leaves at their top. These are perennating stolons. 



The recurrence of the active vegetative period sees two 

 developments in these stolons — one at their base, one at 

 their apex. At their base buds in the axils of the lower- 

 most scale-leaves grow out as erect green shoots and eventu- 

 ally form the central tuft which is so conspicuous at the 

 flowering period of the plant. At their apex growth in 

 length is resumed and a longer portion is added which 

 forms the green leafy flowering termination to the stolon. 



Thus the features of the plant in flower are explained. 

 The long flowering stolons are biennial. The demarcation 

 of the lower and upper regions in the unbranched area of 

 the stolon indicates, as I have said, the limit between a first 

 year's growth and a second year's growth. The green erect 

 shoots of the tuft in the middle of the spreading stolons are 

 the stolons in their first year of growth. Branching of the 

 one-year-old stolons is limited to the base — to the forma- 

 tion of new stolons. Branching of the two-year-old 

 stolons is limited to the apex — to the formation of flower- 

 shoots. The long intermediate region is unbranched. The 

 bases of all the stolons go naturall}^ to the formation of the 

 short rhizomatous axis of the plant, and possibly latent buds 

 may exist or new buds may form at the base of flowered 

 stolons, but I do not know if this is the case. But there 

 is not found on the central rhizomatous axis a rosette of 

 conspicuous green linear and pointed leaves standing up 

 above the bases of the flowering stolons. 



In contrast with this construction in G. prolata, I find 

 in O. ornata, Wall., at flowering time a central rosette of 

 many linear pointed leaves — radical leaves of many sys- 

 tematic description.s — crowning the roots which are thick 

 at their origin, branching freely as they pass into the soil. 

 Spreading out from this rosette are short, non-rooting 

 stolons, each ending in a solitary flower. I see no trace of 

 biennial growth upon them. They suggest annual growths. 



Not having living specimens of 0. ornata, Wall., I cannot 

 write with the same certainty of its life-history as T can of 



