50 
connected with the mother-plant, produce new shoots in their 
turn, (see figg. 1,5 and 7 of plate XII) so that an accumulation 
of little plants comes into existence, which at first sight makes 
a bewildering impression. 
One would now presume that before the new hypocotyl is 
produced an adventitious bud had formed at the radicle-tip, 
and Dr. Sito supposed so, but this is not the case, for the 
tip of the radicle itself is transformed into a germinal point of 
the hypocotyl and accordingly the new organ proceeds gradually 
out of the old, as may be seen distinctly in fig. 3, where a very 
young hypocotyl is shown. Bud-production is out of question. 
The rootlet only becomes a little thinner and then passes from 
a generally round organ, merely somewhat flattened at the base, 
into the knive-shaped hypocotyl. 
However, the two organs are distinguishable not only by 
their shape, but also by their texture and construction. The 
root, as in other epiphytical orchids, is greyish green, whilst 
the hypocotyl is bright green. Moreover the root possesses no 
stomata, but the epidermis of the hypocotyl does contain them. 
The hypocothyl, which in other species of Taeniophyllum per- 
forms but a temporary function in the life of the plant, has 
become an important organ in T'aeniophyllum proliferum. It con- 
tains much water and is full of amylum, serving therefore doubt- 
less as a reserve- or storing-organ. 
All the roots of this plant possess the property described 
_ above; it is therefore evident that the plants multiply greatly 
on the branches so that the twigs are often crowded with 
inter-connected plants. The root with hypocotyl in fig. 4 is 
already a little older than the one seen in fig. 3. The coty- 
ledon is already visible and the earliest roots will soon 
_ appear. Fig. 5 represents a young plant on a scale of about 
_ two diameters. The hypocotyl (hy) has issued out of a seed; 
at the top there are an inflorescence and two roots, one grow- 
g in the longitudinal direction of the stem, the other trans- 
vty. ceed former is the older one and already fullgrown; © 
_ hypo otyl has formed at its end hy 2. The hypocotyl 
re [ 
