BERBERIDE^E 109 



small as in Lardizabala, Caulophyllum, and Nandina, but 

 is occasionally of medium size as in Berberis (fig. 142). In the 

 latter the embryo is nearly three-quarters as long as the seed, 

 and has a terete radicle with broadly ovate, obtuse, emarginate 

 cotyledons. The notch is exceptionally large in this instance, 

 and I could see nothing in the structure of the seed to account 

 for it. It is moreover often altogether absent ; but, when 

 present, is apparently due to the slower growth of the 

 organic apex. The seed itself is bluntly triangular in trans- 

 verse section, and shows the cotyledons lying in the broader 

 plane of the seed, but not always strictly in apposition, a 

 circumstance possibly due to the squeezing produced by the 

 endosperm, while the cavity is a little wider than the embryo 

 it contains. The shape of the seed is due to the mutual pres- 

 sure of several seeds in a berry or fruit. Either the dorsal 

 aspect of the seed, or the sides, may be the broadest according 

 to the position of the same on the placenta. The general 

 shape of seeds in the order is obovoid, oblong, or globose, 

 and they are generally immersed in pulp without being 

 subject to much pressure when mature. 



Cotyledons. The cotyledons are generally oblong, obtuse, 

 shortly petiolate or subsessile, deep green, glabrous, sub- 

 coriaceous, with a few slender, ascending, and generally 

 slightly emarginate veins. 



A remarkable type is found in Podophyllum Eniodi, a low, 

 creeping or rhizomatous herb from the Himalayas. The 

 blades of the cotyledons are roundly oval, entire or minutely 

 emarginate, with a small tooth in the notch, five- to seven- 

 nerved and faintly reticulated and spring horizontally from the 

 apex of a common, terete, rather slender petiole, about 2 inches 

 in length, formed by cohesion of the original two. The petiole 

 splits by a lateral fissure close to the base to allow the exit of 

 the plumule. Instances of this have already been given in 

 Ranunculacese. 1 



Berberis Aquifolium, Pursli. (fig. 142). 



Fruit baccate, ovoid or ellipsoid, glabrous, deep purple, black 

 when mature and covered with a glaucous bloom tipped with the 



1 v. Anemone. 



