398 ON SEEDLINGS 



at either end, concave or boat-shaped on the ventral face, pale green 

 when immature, becoming deep shining brown, and always semi- 

 transparent, disclosing the embryo ; hilum about the middle of the 

 ventral aspect, oval, whitish ; micropyle and radicle inferior. 



Embryo straight, colourless, falling a little short of the endo- 

 sperm transversely to the axis; cotyledons linear, obtuse, entire, 

 tapering to the base and appearing slightly petiolate, closely applied 

 face to face with their edges to the placenta ; radicle tapering to an 

 obtuse point, thinner and shorter than the cotyledons, but lying in 

 the broader and lower end of the seed. 



Endosperm abundant, fleshy, somewhat horny when dry, sub- 

 transparent, whitish. 



Seedling. 



Primary root descending, sending off numerous lateral fibres. 



Hypocotyl terete, pubescent, 1-2-1-6 cm. long. 



Cotyledons long, linear, cylindrical or subterete, acute, entire, 

 sessile, with a few scattered minute hairs, green, without any apparent 

 venation. 



Stem with primary internodes undeveloped. 



First leaves simple, entire, opposite, radical, linear-acute, slightly 

 furrowed, hairy, green, one-nerved, sessile, exstipulate. 



Plantago Cynops, L. 



Ovary as in P. arenaria. 



Capsule broadly ovoid, mucronate, glabrous, pale green, with a 

 pale line where the two carpels come together, and a dark, slender 

 one along the middle of the carpel giving the capsule in a young 

 state the appearance of consisting of four carpels, two-celled, two- 

 seeded, dehiscing circurnscissly near the base. 



Seed ovate, obtuse, peltate, much compressed dorsally, but con- 

 vex in conformity with the inner surface of the capsule, concave on 

 the ventral face, smooth, shining, deep green when young with suf- 

 ficient transparency to show the embryo by transmitted light ; hilum 

 ventral, large, broadly oval or suborbicular, slightly below the middle 

 of the seed ; radicle and micropyle inferior. 



Endosperm copious, fleshy, rather transparent. 



Embryo very similar to that of P. arenaria. 



Plantago gnaphalioides, Nutt. 



Hypocotyl very similar to last species, glandular-pubescent. 

 Cotyledons as in last species ; slightly connate at the base, with 

 a thin glandular pubescence, 2-2-5 cm. long. 



