424 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JUNE 
with the seedling (fig. 2), we notice a striking resemblance to 
exist. between the outline of the first Hae ed leaf, Z, and that of 
the united blades of the cotyledons. It 
seems as if the peltate form is already Q) 
imitated by the cotyledons, which 
actually in this case represent but one o— q 
leaf, when considered from a biological —_/ 
standpoint. This coincidence made us 
examine seedlings of other plants with 
peltate leaves, in order to ascertain 
whether the cotyledons of these might 
also imitate the shape of later devel- Ye? 
oped stem leaves, but in those exam- 
ined we failed to discover any that 
might be compared with Podophyllum. 
In Menispermum Canadense, for instance, td 
the cotyledons are linear; in Tro- 
pacolum the cotyledons remain under 
ground and inclosed by the seed-coat ; 
Hydrocotyle vulgaris has small ovate 
cotyledons; and both Victoria and 
Nelumbium have their cotyledons re- 
maining in the seed even a long time 
after germination has taken place. 
When the young plant of Podo- 
phyllum has passed the first two years 
of its existence, it sends up a long 
petioled leaf (fig. 4, L), with a blade 
that is considerably larger and more Lots hh 
deeply lobed than the leaf shown in \ j \f/ 
fig. 3. The development of a few | 
scale leaves (/—-/*) preceding the green ‘Fic. 4. Young plant of 4 
one is also noticed at this stage, and 4am ™ ee 
the primary root, X, still remains with ane 
an increased number of lateral roots. Besides these lateral roots 
the first pair of secondary roots, 7, is observed to develop from 
