644. MINNESOTA BOTANICAL STUDIES. 
green structure is found a vestigial radicle. Upon the germi- 
nation of the seed the fleshy bodies remain within the pericarp 
wall while the green structure develops into the extraseminal 
plant body. The radicle does not function, the first roots 
springing from the stem of the green structure. 
The first careful description of the seed seems to have been 
given by Gaertner (1788, 73-74). He termed the large fleshy 
bodies the vitellus which he considered a transition between the 
endosperm and cotyledon. The green structure he considered 
the embryo and in VVymphea he describes it as monocotyledon- 
ous, but of Velwmbo he says: ‘* Ambigit Nelumbo inter plantas 
mono- & dicotyledones: nom ad posteriores, ex fabrica seminis, 
omnino spectare videtur ; sed verissime ad priores pertinet, quum 
constantissime unicum duntaxat sub germinatione promat foli- 
olum, nec alterum prodeat, donec prius penitus evolutum & 
super aqua explicatum sit:” Jussieu (1'789, 68, 453) considers the 
green structure a monocotyledonous embryo and describes the 
large fleshy bodies as endosperm. Poiteau (’09, 382, 383) in- 
terprets the large fleshy bodies as cotyledons and the membrane 
as a stipule, but denies the presence of a radicle. Mirbel (’09) 
accepts Poiteau’s interpretation of the large fleshy bodies but 
notes the presence of a radicle. Richard (’11) describes the 
embryo as monocotyledonous. The little sac which surrounds 
the green structure he considers a reduced cotyledon and the 
large fleshy bodies an outgrowth of the radicle. Mirbel (715, 
59, 60, footnote) writes: ‘‘ Je ne suis pas éloigné de croire que 
le Piper, le Saurus———,, le Nymphza, le Nelumbo et peutétre 
quelques autres genres que l’on regarde mal-a-propos comme 
Monocotylédons, doivent prendre place non loin les uns des 
autres, parmi les Dicotylédons, dans la série des familles natur- 
elles.” Mirbel’s declaration seems to have settled the question 
as to the character of the large fleshy bodies, his interpretation 
having been generally accepted except by Barthélemy (’76) who 
asserts : (I) that the green structure is the one which arises in the 
embryo-sac and hence is to be considered as the embryo, (2) 
that the two fleshy bodies imitating cotyledons arise through the 
division of the exosperm. 
Concerning the little colorless sac which surrounds the green 
structure, however, no opinion seems to have been given which 
could meet with general approval. In addition to those above 
cited De Candolle (’21) considered it a stipule, Brongniart (’27) 
