﻿370 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [may 



The principal points in our knowledge of the dendritic monocotyledons, 

 together with some new observations, form the subject of a recent paper by 

 Schoute.7 On account of the slow progress of primary growth in thickness 

 at the vegetative point, the stem is usually shaped like an inverted cone at 

 the base, as in Pandanus ; here prop-roots serve to support the stem. In the 

 Liliiflorae, however, the inverted cone of primary growth is surrounded by a 

 zone of secondary grovvlh, giving the stem a cylindrical form at the base. 

 Measurements of stems of Dracaena and other genera are given, which 

 establish this point. Branches appear when apical growth is stopped by pro- 

 duction of a terminal flower cluster; the growth of the branches repeats the 



process observed in the main stem. — M. A. Chrysler. 



Schumann has made an extensive comparative study of the ovulate 

 flowers of the Coniferales (including Ginkgo).^ Little attention is given to 

 the earlier developmental stages, but the later stages and the mature flowers 

 are described in great detail, and many suggestive comparisons are made. 

 Teratology is not regarded as of much value in elucidating morphological 

 relations or establishing homologies. Schumann finds that the Cupresseae 

 are related to the Taxodieae, Sequoia being of living forms nearest the 

 point of contact. This does not mean that Sequoia is the starting-point for 

 the Cupressineae, but that the ancestral form must have been similar and 

 related to Sequoia. This supports Potonie's theory that the Taxodieae 

 appeared before the Cupresseae. — Charles J. Chamberlain. 



In a study of the changes taking place in glucosides during metabolism, 

 Weevers^ finds that salicin is removed from the leaves of Salix to the bark in 

 the dark and increases again in the leaves in light. Saligenol appears only 

 in small quantities where salicin is decreasing in amount, quantities not large 

 enough to account for nearly all of the salicin removed. There is found, 

 however, an abundance of catechol in tissues from which the glucoside has 

 disappeared, and in amounts sufficient to justify the supposition that salicm 

 breaks down into glucose and catechol, saligenol being only an intermediate 

 product. An enzyme active in this process could not be extracted, but it 



r 



w^as found necessary to kill the tissues immediately in order to prevent a 

 decrease in salicin content. Thus, the living protoplasm or a substance 

 destroyed by boiling seems to be necessary. When glucose and catechol are 

 produced, the carbohydrate diffuses away and the catechol remains and com- 

 bines with glucose again when it becomes plentiful. Investigation of the 

 changes in aesculin in germ/mating horse-chestnuts and of gaultherin in Gaul- 

 .theria and Fagus were also made, but they are not yet as complete as the 



others. — Burton E. Livingston. 



^Schoute, J. C, Die Stammesbildung der Monocotylen. Flora 92 : 32-48- I9°3- 

 ^Schumann, K., Ueber die weiblichen Bliithen der Coniferen. Verhandl. Bot. 



Vereins Prov. Brandenburg 44 : 5-80. 1902. 



^Weevers, Th., Investigation of glucosides in connection with the internal muta- 

 tion of plants. Kon. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam 1902: 295-303. (Nov. 20.) 



