THE SEED AND SEEDLING OF THE MOUNTAIN 

 GLOBE-FLOWER 



By Francis Ramaley 



The mountain globe-flower, Trollius alhiflorus (A. Gray) Ryd- 

 BERG,' is limited in range to the mountain districts of western North 

 America. It grows in wet or swampy ground, where the water is 

 cold, and is often found with our white-flowered Caltha (C. rotundifolia). 

 Frequently it occurs in slow-running water under spruce trees. The 

 writer has not seen it in Colorado at an altitude of less than 9,500 feet. 

 In Montana, according to Rydberg, it occurs at 6,500 feet. Wlien in 

 full bloom a mass of these plants forms a striking feature of a forest 

 scene. The flowers are white, and there are many on each plant. 



Each carpel of the flower produces a great many of the small, ovoid 

 black seeds. A ripe seed is about 1.7 mm. long, somewhat angled, 

 and striate with irregular ribs. The embryo is small and placed at 

 the narrow end of the seed (Fig. i). The endosperm cells are densely 

 packed with aleuron grains. A considerable amount of oil is present. 

 The cells immediately surrounding the embryo are somewhat more 

 oily than the rest. This region is marked by the dotted hne in Figs. 

 2 and 3. The embryo, carefully dissected out, is found to show but 

 slight differentiation (Fig. 3). The cotyledons may be recognized, 

 but they show no similarity to leaves. At this stage in its development 

 the young plant has no vascular tissue. 



The seedling is pecuUar in that the cotyledon-stalks are united 

 from the base upward for about half their length. The stem axis is 

 thus surrounded and covered over by the united bases of the stalks. 

 It is through a slit in this " cotyledonary sheath " that the plumule 

 escapes. A similar condition obtains in Trollius ledebouri as described 

 by Lubbock.^ Certain other Ranunculacese also have the cotyledon- 



^ Cat. Flora of Mont, and Yellowstone Nai. Park, 152. 1900. -Seedlings, i:qi. 1892. 



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