RANUNCULACE.E 81 



entire, acute, three- or five-nerved ; terminal one larger, trifid, or 

 tripartite, or divided to the rachis. 



Clematis recta, L. 



Fruit an achene very shortly stipitate, broadly oval, much com- 

 pressed laterally, deep brown, nearly or quite glabrous, terminated 

 by a long, feathery, persistent style ; walls of achene very much 

 thickened at the sutures by a mass of cortex on each side, making 

 in all four pieces ; considerably thinner at the sides. 



Seed suborbicular and conforming to the interior of the achene, 

 with rounded or obtuse edges ; outer seed-coat (testa) thicker, 

 deep brown ; inner (tegmen) very thin, membranous, pale brown ; 

 hilum and micropyle at the upper, basal end of the seed ; funicle 

 short. 



Endosperm copious, fleshy, white. 



Embryo minute, straight, colourless, lying in the endosperm, 

 close to its upper end and towards the dorsal edge of the seed. 



Cotyledons sessile, obtuse, entire, plano-convex, lying closely 

 applied face to face in the narrow plane of the seed ; radicle very 

 short, and blunt, shorter than the cotyledons, close to the upper 

 end of the endosperm. 



Clematis graveolens, LindL, var. orientalis (fig. 121). 



Achene narrowly ellipsoid, laterally compressed, densely covered 

 with silky ascending hairs, and ending in a long, feathery style ; 

 pericarp comparatively thin. 



Seed conforming to the interior of the achene, suspended from 

 near the apex of the cell, anatropous ; seed-coats thin. 



Endosperm as in C. recta. 



Embryo differs from that of C. recta in being larger, and 

 in the ovate, or suboval cotyledons lying in the broader plane 

 of the seed, i.e. with their backs to the sides of the seed and 

 their edges to the sutures ; radicle oblong, obtuse, stout, about 

 equal in length to the cotyledons, but less in diameter than their 

 breadth. 



The radicle in germination pushes out at the apex of the 

 achene, which splits rather deeply into two valves, thus allowing 

 the embryo free exit. The primary root develops numerous 

 root-hairs at an early stage, which fix the seedling firmly in the 

 soil. 



The achene is rarely if ever carried up by the cotyledons, but is 

 securely fixed in the soil by the long, feathery, persistent style. 



