ii6 



Roots From the Tip of Grain Sf.kds. 



It seems best to add here an account of a case which, because of its 

 pecuharity and rareness, deserves a permanent place in science. 



The agricultural teacher, Wolfes in Dargun (Mecklenburg-Schwerin), 

 sent me in 1876, fourteen wheat grains in which, through hypertrophy, the 

 embryo did not lie to one side of the endosperm, but occupied a middle 

 position. The grains were sown in the fall and in the spring they had partly 

 rooted but without developing plumules. They were either slender, pear- 

 shaped or even cylindrical at the one end, tapering rapidly at the other like 

 the neck of a violin. In many grains (Fig. 11-12) the elongation of the 

 slender end opposite the embryo was so marked that a neck was formed, 

 possibly 2 to 3.5 mm. long, and twisted toward the upper end. 



In twelve grains the length of which varied from ^ to 1I4 cm. the 

 neck bore a large number of very thin, thread-like roots i to 2 cm. long, 

 closely arranged like a brush. These were pubescent almost their entire 

 length. 



Upon attempting carefully with a needle to raise the wrinkled and oc- 

 casionally ruptured testa of the grain it was found to be closely attached to 



Fig. ]]. Wheat grains with root.s not originating- from the ■emljryo but springing 

 from the hypertrophied testa at tlie tip of the seed grain. 



the grain in different places and, when broken off, was usually of a darker 

 color. On the other hand its upper part was firmly connected with the beak- 

 like growth along almost its whole length and could be raised from the grain 

 proper like a straw cap (Fig. 12). The neck therefore at the time of the 

 investigation was not connected with the actual grain except by the testa 

 from the substance of which it also seemed to be formed. In the fresh con- 

 dition of the grain this had been firmly set on the seed since various concave 

 places on the inner wall of the cap, perceptible through the microscope, fitted 

 on to the small convex elevations visible on the seed grains. 



There was another equally noteworthy phenomenon, namely, that the 

 fissure, normally present, was lacking in these wheat grains. The grain, 

 which had been dug up, also failed to show the seedling which lies at the base 

 of the normal grain and is easily recognizable through the seed coat; it was 

 not noticeable in the seeds observed. The endosperm itself, when cut apart, 

 finally showed only a small degree of the white color of the healthy grain. 

 There were long, glassy, translucent and yellowish streaks extending from 

 the edge inward. It had a rancid odor. The blue iodin reaction for starch 

 was strong only in those particles of the grain which, on the freshly cut 



