214 Mr. A. Murray on the Homologies of 
resting on that point against the upperside of the next anther. 
It will be seen how exactly the male flower when young (fig. 8) 
corresponds with the flower of Sequoia sempervirens and Welling- 
tonia. The petal in Sequoia is larger and of a stronger con- 
sistence, and its anthers are rounder and comparatively smaller; 
but the chief difference is that, in the firs and pines, the anthers 
on each side, although still sessile, have extended themselves 
backwards, and united to the flower-stalk, which has become more 
elongated. The petal is now called the crest of the anther, and 
its back is now spoken of as its front, the more prominent and 
more highly coloured side being exposed outwards; bat the same 
arrangements remain as in the Cypresses. The petal or crest 
of the anther is more highly petaloid in structure than in the 
Cypresses, and its colour is usually more bright and rich ; but, 
as in them, it is concave towards the axis and convex on the 
outer side. The stamens are sessile as before, and attached to 
the inferior margin of the petal; but the union is continued 
down the peduncle, which is comparatively longer; that is all 
the difference. | 
With the key thus given, it is impossible to misunderstand 
the homologies of the male flowers: they are monopetalous and 
diandrous in the firs and pines, monopetalous and polyandrous 
in the Cypresses and allied genera. 
The female flower is also monopetalous. In the young state 
the petal is a small bract, sometimes green, sometimes even 
more richly coloured than the petal of the male flower, but 
always petaloid in texture, at least at the margins. Various 
authors have, from considerations of development and analogy, 
surmised the identity of this bract with the stamens in the male 
flower; but this is rather more than the truth. It is not 
with the stamens that they correspond, but solely with the crest 
which surmounts them, or, rather, from the base of which they 
spring. As it appears to me, it has no analogy, affinity, or 
homology either with the anthers or their peduncle. 
This petal or bract is always present, so far as I have seen, 
although in the mature cone it is sometimes difficult to distin- 
euish it. It is developed to the greatest extent in some of the 
silver firs, as Picea bracteata and P. nobilis. In the mature 
cedar it may be wholly overlooked, it having in it, by the pres- 
sure of the seed behind it, been reduced to a mere pale ragged 
scurf, interrupted in the middle. In the Cypresses it is often 
reduced to a mere membrane or crust. If we open a young 
green cone of Wellingtonia or Sequoia sempervirens, we see the 
space between the scales filled with a bright claret-coloured 
matter which looks like an exudation, fitting into the sinuosities 
of the scales. This is the petal; and if examined with a lens, 
