644 MINNESOTA BOTANICAL STUDIES. 



green structure is found a vestigial radicle. Upon the germi- 

 nation of the seed the fleshy bodies remain within the pericarp 

 wall while the green structure develops into the extraseminal 

 plant body. The radicle does not function, the first roots 

 springing from the stem of the green structure. 



The first careful description of the seed seems to have been 

 given by Gaertner (1788, 73-74). He termed the large fleshy 

 bodies the vitellus which he considered a transition between the 

 endosperm and cotyledon. The green structure he considered 

 the embryo and in Nymphcea he describes it as monocotyledon- 

 ous, but of Nelumbo he says : " Ambigit Nelumbo inter plantas 

 mono-& dicotyledones : nom ad posteriores, ex fabrica seminis, 

 omnino spectare videtur ; sed verissime ad priores pertinet, quum 

 constantissime unicum duntaxat sub germinatione promat foli- 

 olum, nee alterum prodeat, donee prius penitus evolutum & 

 super aqua explicatum sit :" Jussieu (1789, 68, 453) considers the 

 green structure a monocotyledonous embryo and describes the 

 large fleshy bodies as endosperm. Poiteau ('09, 382, 383) in- 

 terprets the large fleshy bodies as cotyledons and the membrane 

 as a stipule, but denies the presence of a radicle. Mirbel ('09) 

 accepts Poiteau's interpretation of the large fleshy bodies but 

 notes the presence of a radicle. Richard ('n) describes the 

 embryo as monocotyledonous. The little sac which surrounds 

 the green structure he considers a reduced cotyledon and the 

 large fleshy bodies an outgrowth of the radicle. Mirbel ('i5 

 59, 60, footnote] writes: "Je ne suis pas eloigne de croire que 



le Piper, le Saurus , le Nymphgea, le Nelumbo et peutetre 



quelques autres genres que Ton regarde mal-a-propos comme 

 Monocotyledons, doivent prendre place non loin les uns des 

 autres, parmi les Dicotyledons, dans la serie des families natur- 

 elles." MirbePs declaration seems to have settled the question 

 as to the character of the large fleshy bodies, his interpretation 

 having been generally accepted except by Barthelemy ('76) who 

 asserts : (i) that the green structure is the one which arises in the 

 embryo-sac and hence is to be considered as the embryo, (2) 

 that the two fleshy bodies imitating cotyledons arise through the 

 division of the exosperm. 



Concerning the little colorless sac which surrounds the green 

 structure, however, no opinion seems to have been given which 

 could meet with general approval. In addition to those above 

 cited De Candolle ( J 2i) considered it a stipule, Brongniart ('27) 



