POLYGONATUM COMMUTATUM 3 
Comerarius, Fuchs, Dodonaeus, Cordus, Gesner, Lobelius, 
Tabernaemontanus, Gerard, Lonicer, Cusa, Thalius, Clusius, 
Turner, Caesalpinus, and Bauhin. Tour., Els. p. 69 (1694); 
Peek. ,.p.°79) (1700); Hill; \Br..Herb, pi320 (1756) :)Zinn., Cat. 
Pl. p. 59.(1760); Morandi, Hist. Bot. Pract. p. 105 (1761); Adan- 
son, Fam. des Pl. p. 54 (1753). Szgillum Salamonis. Brunfels, 
Gesner, Tragus. Convallaria. Ljinn., Syst. (1735); Gen. p. 
96 (1737), 148 (1754); Sp. Pl. p. 314 (1753) Axzllaria. Raf., 
Jour. Phys. 89: p. 261 (1819). Am Month. Mag. 266, (1818). 
Polygonatum commutatum. (R. and S.) Dietr., Gartenz. 
ay) Py 223 (2835): 
P, giganteum |. c. p. 322. Convallaria commutata R. and S. 
BySt. 7, p. 1761e(1830)+ 
ECOLOGY OF THE SEEDLING. 
The young seedlings of the plant were found to be 
very common during the past summer at several places near 
South Bend, and an opportunity was thus afforded of studying 
them under natural conditions. They seem to thrive best in a 
well drained sandy soil with plenty of vegetable mold and in a 
position where they will be mulched and protected but not much 
shaded by surrounding trees. 
The mature plant with its berries, after wilting or drying up, 
falls to the ground sometime in October, and the berries are soon 
covered with fallen leaves and other debris. In this state they soon 
rot leaving the seeds entirely embedded. The seeds themselves 
are‘somewhat roughly spherical in shape and about three milli- 
meters in diameter; at first of a pale yellow collor with a brownish 
scar, they later become a dingy brown throughout. The bulk 
of the seed is found to be made up of endosperm food storage 
tissue of a horny consistency and composed of rather large cells, 
having thick and regular food deposits on the inner surface of 
their walls, and communicating with each other by numerous 
small canals (Fig. tox). These seeds lie dormant during the fall 
and winter and germinate about the last of May or in early June, 
although they may sometimes be much retarded. 
In germination the embryo breaks through the seed coat 
at a point about opposite the scar, and there are pushed out in 
succession; first the radical or primary root, next the hypocotyl 
which is soon slightly enlarged, and last the petiole of the coty- 
