2 J. M. Macfarlane. — Cephalotaceae. 



wholly ignorant. Equally so are we as to germination and seedling growth, though 

 Brown states (Mise, works, II, 355) that it "was introduced from King Georges Sound 

 in 1823 by Gaptain King, into His Majesty's Botanic Garden at Kew, where it flowered 

 repeatedly, and ripened seeds from which several plants have been raised". 



The mature plant consists of an irregularly bent rhizome about 10 cm X 5 mm 

 from which spring a few roots that are white during the first year, but soon after 

 become brown. The rhizome is closely marked by leaf scars, and in the axils of the 

 younger scars buds are formed, most of which are absorbed or decay. In addition 

 to occasional scale-leaves, the rhizome annually produces alternating sets of flat foliage 

 leaves and of highly modified aseidiform leaves, that in some superficial respects re- 

 semble, but fundamentally differ from, those of the Sarracenioids and Nepenthes. The 

 flat leaves (Fig. \ A) seem to be produced during the Australian autumn (March- April), 

 and persist tili the sueeeeding Spring (August-Sept.). From above the terminal one of 

 these the slender elongated flower-stalk or rhachis arises and lengthens in November 

 and December. The small clustered white blooms expand in January. Along with the 

 flower-stalk a new crop of pitchered leaves is formeel, that are active as fly-catchers 

 throughout the Australian summer (Nov. — Jan.) and persist often for several months 

 afterwards, while a new set of foliage leaves is expanding. The fruits ripen in early 

 March, and are then disseminated. Each of the above parts will now be described in 

 detail. 



Roots are scantily produced in eultivated speeimens along the rhizome at the 

 lower edges of the leaf scars. These remain colorless tili they have attained the length 

 of about 1 cm. They then gradually become pale brown, while the growing end 

 lengthens tili each root may be 5 — 8 cm long. Functional root-hairs were entirely 

 absent in all fresh roots examined by the writer, but toward the growing ends of some 

 roots short rudiments of hairs were noted as little tubercles or swellings of a few 

 epidermal cells. Here then, as in the swamp-loving Sarracenias, the soft epidermal 

 cells evidently replace the abortive root-hairs as absorptive struetures. 



The stem is a creeping rather slender and irregularly bent rhizome, that may 

 be from 5 — 15 cm long and 3 — 5 mm thick. Its general aspect is well shown in 

 Bauer's figure that aecompanies R. Brown's description of the plant .in Flinders' Voyages 

 (op. cit.). The older part of its surface is closely beset by the scars of withered leaves. 

 A rhizome 12 — 15 cm long may indicate a growth period of 9 — 10 years. Of this 

 the larger posterior half is nearly or quite dead. When cut across it has a dark 

 brown color in the cortex and cork, and a yellowish hue in the xylem tissue. The 

 anterior half is whitish brown externally and within is almost white, in large measure 

 due to the great amount of stored starch. In the upper part of this region, small 

 bud swellings arise rather plentifully, one in the axil of each leaf-scar, but as a rule 

 only a few of these come to maturity. When they do lengthen out, each forms rather 

 elongated internodes of whitish color, while at each node a whitish tapered scale leaf 

 arises that is of short duration. ünder eultivation such lateral shoots can be separated 

 from the parent rhizome, and on rooting give rise to new plants. Both stem and 

 branches end in closely clustered flat and aseidiform leaves that arise round the grow- 

 ing apex. 



The leaves consist of three sets as in Sarracenia, (a) scale leaves that are most 

 abundantly formed on lateral branches, (b) foliage leaves that arise annually round 

 the ends of the stem and branches, (c) aseidiform or pitchered leaves that are developed 

 annually in succession to the last, and which in strueture and funetion are adapted for 

 the catching of animal prey. These are simply modified foliage leaves, as will be 

 shown later. 



The scale leaves are often formed on lateral shoots to the number of 8 — 10. 

 Each is 4 — 7 mm X 1 — 1,5 mm. It sheaths round the axis by its base, and thence 

 tapers to a fine point, while its outer surface and margin are finely pilose like the 

 axis from which it Springs. 



