CAMPANULACE.4] 163 



CAMPANULACEJE. 



Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. ii. 541. 



Fruit and Seed. The ovary is inferior or half, rarely wholly 

 superior, and generally 2-5-, rarely 6-10-celled, and consisting 

 of as many carpels ; a one-celled condition is rare and then 

 probably occurs through the abortion of one out of two carpels, 

 or more generally by the disappearance of the septa during 

 growth. The placentas are mostly axile, somBtimes attached to 

 the middle of the septa where they become stalked or peltate. 

 The ovules are numerous, rarely two, and attached either at the 

 top or base of the cell, erect, horizontal, or pendulous and ana- 

 tropous. The fruit is capsular or baccate, dehiscing variously by 

 pores or valves beneath or above the calyx-limb, or indehiscent 

 and liberating the seeds by decay. The seeds are mostly very 

 small and numerous with a membranous or leathery testa. 

 The embryo is also minute and embedded in the axis of the 

 endosperm with the radicle close to the hilum. 



Exceptions occur in species of Lysipoma, Clermontia and 

 Delissea, which have a one-celled ovary with parietal placentas, 

 but even here these conditions are very rare. In Merciera 

 the one-celled ovary has a pair of basal erect ovules ; and in 

 Siphocodon the ovary is three-celled, but the ovules are sus- 

 pended from the apex of the cavities. Baccate fruits occur 

 in Pratia, Colensoa, Kollandia, Cyanea, Delissea, Clermontia, 

 and others both of the tribes Lobelieae and Campanuleae. 



Seedlings. Amongst the seedlings observed are three 

 different types of cotyledons, namely, subulate, ovate, and 

 rotund or suborbicular, frequently emarginate. As the 

 embryo is very small w T hile yet in the seed, the ultimate 

 form of the cotyledons is due to growth or development during 

 and after germination. 



The subulate type may be represented by Downingia 

 pulchella (fig. 490). The cotyledons are subulate-linear, 6- 

 7 mm. long, and precisely similar to the first pair of leaves. The 

 upper leaves become gradually wider and 3-5-nerved. The 

 ovate type is fairly represented by Lobelia Erinus (fig. 492). 



