BERBERIDE.E 



111 



seeds towards the upper end of the placenta), pale brown, glabrous, 

 shining ; testa thick, coriaceous ; tegmen thin, membranous ; 

 hilum and micropyle contiguous, basal, the hilum forming a round 

 or oval depressed cavity with a thickened dark margin ; raphe 

 ventral, forming a thickening on the ventral angle ; chalaza 

 apical, conspicuous. 



Endosperm in the mature seed copious, fleshy, white. 



Embryo considerably shorter than the endosperm, straight, 

 colourless ; cotyledons oval, obtuse, minutely emarginate, otherwise 

 entire, sessile, trinerved at the base, then again from below the 

 middle to the apex, where the 

 lateral nerves unite with the mid- 

 rib, and are themselves slightly 

 branched ; nearly or quite flat, 

 and applied to one another face 

 to face, or frequently pushed 

 apart with the edges overlapping, 

 lying in the broad way of the 

 seed with their backs to the 

 placenta ; radicle cylindrical, ob- 

 tuse, or thickest near the point, 

 about as long as the cotyledons, 

 embedded in the endosperm close 

 to the micropyle. 



There are sometimes three 

 cotyledons ; and in other cases, by 

 proliferation, a second and smaller 

 embryo is produced, closely ap- 

 plied to the larger and perfect one. 



Seedling (fig. 143). 



Hypocotyl woody, erect, terete, 

 about 3'6 cm. long. 



Cotyledons oblong, obtusely 

 pointed, narrowed into the petiole, 

 glabrous, 1*5 cm. long, 5 mm. 

 broad. 



Stem woody, erect, lower 

 internodes undeveloped. 



Leaves simple in the seedling stage, ultimately imparipinnate, 

 cauline, alternate, stipulate, petiolate, glabrous, coriaceous, re- 

 ticulately nerved, deep green above, glaucous beneath ; petioles fili- 

 form, wiry, dilated and sheathing at the base, articulated with the 



FIG. 143. Berberis Aquifolii 

 Nat. size. 



