COTYLEDONS. 



621 



With regard to the forms assumed by the cotyledons now witlidrawn from tlie 

 seed under favourable conditions, and which have become green in the sunlight, it is 

 to be noticed that they present far fewer variations than those of ordinary foliage- 

 leaves. Usually their margins are entire, their form elliptical or linear, more 

 rarely circular and obovate. Sometimes the cotyledons are indented in front, 

 resembling a heart in outline; this is especially the case where the embr\'o is foWed 





Fig. 148.— Cotyledons. 



, *. > Fagus sylvatica. * Fvmnria o^cinalitt. * Oaleopsis pubescens. " Abies orientalig. T Convolvulus arvengis. 8 Borago 

 o^cinalis. ^ Seiiecio enici/olius. ^° Jio^a canina. ^^ Erodiiim Cicxttarium. ^i Quamodit coccinea. ^^ Tilia graiidi/oiia. 

 >* Lepidium satimiui. i^ Eucalyptwi orientalig. i^ Eucalyptus coriaceus. 17--0 Streptocarpus Itexii. 



in the seed, so that the radicle lies close to the outer margin of the cotyledons, and 

 may be explained as an economy of the scanty space within the seed. Most rarely 

 of all the cotyleilons are two-lobed {Ritphanus sativus), and bisected {Eucalyptn^f 

 orientalis, Eschscholtzia Californica), three-lobed {Erodium Cicutariv/m), and tri- 

 sected (Lepidium sativum), four-lobed (Pterocarya Caucasica), and iive-lobed 

 (Tilia). It is still to be mentioned that in all seedlings whose hypocotyl is short, 

 the blade of the cotyledons has a long stalk, while in seedlings with elongated 

 hypocotyls the blade is sessile. This is connected with the processes already 

 mentioned, and also partly with the fact that it is of importance to seedlings that 



