THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 71 



three stigmas in the female. This would imply three component 

 carpels, and therefore a three-celled ovarj-. It is possible, though 

 the point requires further investigation, that the discrepancy 

 has been produced by the misinterpretation of sections containing 

 the bilobed seed. Sir William Hooker figures in the Botanical 

 Magazine (tab. 2737, fig. 1) a transverse section of an ovary which 

 clearly points to a normal tricarpellary structure. 



The stone or nut, as it is sometimes called, is, as is well-known, 



deeply bilobed The outline of the putamen in a longitudinal 



section is roughly that of an exaggerated dumb-bell. The cavities 

 of the two lobes communicate in the middle. The upper parts of 

 the lobes are separated by an open sinus, but the lower are more 

 or less united, and if a cross-section be made at this point, the nut 

 would show, as in one of Sonnerat's figures, a bilocular structure. 



Another point which has not been ascertained is the number of 

 ovules in each ovarian cell. Analogy and suck evidence as is 

 valuable suggest there being only one. The ' nut,' therefore, if 

 developed from one carpel, would be only one-seeded. W. B. 

 Hemsley, in the ' Catalogue to the North Gallery ' (p. 74), refers 

 to ' the two-lobed nut, which usually contains only one seed. ' 

 But I am not aware of any proof of its ever containing more. It 

 seems probable that the bilobed form of the nut has suggested that 

 it might consist of two coalescing carpels, but there is no evidence 

 of this. 



Juglans affords a familiar instance of ingrowths from the peri- 

 carp into the seed cavity. The purpose of such spurious dissepi- 

 ments, especially when the}'' intrude on the developing seed and 

 modify its form, is difficult to account for. The separation of 

 the cavities at the base of the seed of Lodoicea is apparently due 

 to such an ingrowth. But this can only be ascertained by follow- 

 ing the development. The free lobes themselves are onl}^ lateral 

 inflations in order to provide space for the enormous endosperm. 

 They are much more distended on the dorsal than on the ventral 

 surface, which is somewhat flattened; this produces the corres- 

 ponding difference in the two surfaces of the fruit which has 

 already been mentioned. In this case, which seems the most usual, 

 the fruit contains only one nut and one seed. The Genera Plan- 

 tarum describes the fruit as ' I — V. imperfecte 2-3 — locularis.' The 

 latter condition can be onlj^ due to the more or less complete 

 development of one or both of the other carpels. 



The endosperm is voluminous. According to the Genera Plan- 

 tarum it is hollow, ' late cavo.' My recollection of a specimen 

 examined at Kew, though unfortunately I made no note at the 

 time, is that it was solid. The account given by Sir William 

 Hooker seems to confirm this. He says : ' The cavity is filled 

 by the almond, which is very hard, white, and corneous, so that it 



