558 
sex organs and the act of fertilization which, 
in this species, differs from the current con- 
ception of a fertilization in that the odsphere 
is a compound one, having about one hun- 
dred functional nuclei: each one of these 
fuses with one male pronucleus derived 
from the antheridium. The development 
of these nuclei and the organs that bear 
them is followed and the mitoses described, 
as is also the opening of the antheridial 
tube and the fusion of the nuclei. A new 
cell organ, present during the oogenesis, 
the cenocentrum, is described, and the ripen- 
ing of the odspore followed. 
‘The Embyro Sac of Leucocrinum mon- 
tanum,’ by Francis Ramaley, Boulder, 
Colorado. 
The embryo sac of Leucocrinum is of the 
usual Liliaceous type. The sac is never 
greatly elongated but generally rather spher- 
ical. The polar nuclei fuse before the fecun- 
dation of the egg. The definitive nucleus 
moves from the center of the sac toward 
the posterior end before any division takes 
place. Thesynergidsare large: they per- 
sist for a short time after the fecundation 
of the egg. The antipodal cells do not in- 
crease in number but a fragmentation of 
the nuclei sometimes occurs. The anti- 
podals do not become completely disorgan- 
ized for a long time, and may still be 
recognized after a considerable mass of 
endosperm has been built up and the sac 
completely filled. The author found noth- 
ing to suggest a fusion between the defini- 
tive nucleus and a male cell. 
‘Notes on Subterranean Organs,’ by A. 
8. Hitchcock, Manhattan, Kansas. 
A classification of the underground parts 
of perennial plants, especially the herbs, is 
made as below: accompanied also by notes 
and examples: 
Roots which form adventitious buds ; 
Fleshy roots with a crown at apex : 
Crown with top-root—with fibrous roots ; 
Rhizomes ; simple, crown-bearing. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. X. No. 251. 
Various subdivisions of each of the above, 
with examples were given. The notes re- 
ferred to plants in the vicinity of Manhat- 
tan, Kansas, confined chiefly to dicotyle- 
dons. 
‘Some Monstrosities in Spikelets of Hra- 
grostis and Setaria with their Meaning,’ by 
W. J. Beal, Agricultural College, Michigan. 
A few plants of Eragrostis major made a 
second growth of some of the spikelets— 
more than twice the usual length, in a 
damp late autumn. A few spikes of 
Setaria viridis in same autumn had bristles 
bearing spikelets at the top, and one with 
a spikelet on the side of a bristle. 
‘Studies of the Vegetation of the High 
Nebraska Plains,’ by Charles Edwin Bessey, 
Lincoln, Nebraska. 
The physical conditions on the high plains 
of Western Nebraska include a general ele- 
vation of 1000 to 1200 meters above sea 
level, a rainfall of but 40 centimeters per 
year, a very high insulation, a sandy soil, 
with a generally undulating surface, with 
now and then a shallow moist valley. Until 
recently these plains were swept annually 
with prairie fires. The ecological condi-. 
tions are taken up for the Box Butte plains 
where the grassy covering is an Agropyron- 
Stipa-Bouteloua formation; for the Snake 
Creek valley, with a Sporobolus formation, 
surrounded by a zone of Distichlis ; for the 
undulating surface with its exclusive Carex 
formation; for rocky hills with a broad 
zone of Artemisia in one line capped with a 
zone of Mentzelia; for the river bottom 
(Platte) with its Distichlis-A triplex-Cheno- 
podium. 
‘The Tamarack Swamp in Ohio,’ by A. 
D. Selby, Wooster, Ohio. 
A preliminary study of the Larix plant 
company as occurring in Ohio. The loca- 
tion of these bogs in the northeast counties 
extending as far south as Canton, and in the 
extreme northwest of Ohio, was pointed out ; 
and a preliminary list of 36 species collected 
