710 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 801 



BOTANICAL NOTES 



A VERY ANCIENT SEED 



What is called " the most primitive seed 

 that has yet come to light " is described by 

 Professor F. W. Oliver in the Annals of Bot- 

 any (Jan., 1909) under the title " On Physos- 

 toma elegans, an Archaic Type of Seed from 

 the Palaeozoic Eocks." It was first discovered 

 in 1875 by the late Professor Williamson in 

 the Lower Coal Measures of Lancashire, Eng- 

 land, who gave it the name used above. La 

 size it is quite small, being from tip to tip 

 only 5.5 to 6 millimeters long. Its integument 

 is ribbed, and at the level of the top of the 

 nucleus the ten ribs become so many separate 

 arms which project beyond the nucellus for a 

 considerable distance. Many pollen cells were 

 found, and these have been sectioned and 

 studied to such good purpose that what ap- 

 pear to be fossil sperms (spermatozoids) have 

 been made out. These are flattened oval bod- 

 ies occurring in pairs in each pollen cell. 

 That we now calmly accept these results of 

 Professor Oliver's study of these ancient 

 seeds shows what tremendous progress has 

 been made in our knowledge of the general 

 cyead type of seed apparatus, and we even 

 scarcely smile at the author's somewhat naive 

 statement that "no appendages or cilia have 

 been detected in connection with these bod- 

 ies " (i. e., the sperms) ! The plants that bore 

 these interesting seeds have not yet been 

 traced, but the author refers them provision- 

 ally to the Lyginodendreae of the Pterido- 

 spermeae (Cycadofilices), and they are with- 

 out doubt among the earliest of seed-produc- 

 ing plants. 



CYTOLOGICAL PAPERS 



We can do little more than to enumerate 

 the titles of the cytological papers that lie be- 

 fore us, beginning with " The Stature and 

 Chromosomes of Oenothera gigas" (Archiv 

 filr Zellforschung, Bd. 3, 1909) by E. E. 

 Gates, reaching among others the conclusion 

 that closely related species of plants may dif- 

 fer in the number of chromosomes. — In a 

 concisely written paper, " Cytological Studies 

 on Oenothera" (Ann. Bot., Oct., 1909) Dr. 

 B. M. Davis adds many details, by the critical 



study of the pollen development of Oenothera 

 grandiflora. — Other mainly or wholly cyto- 

 logical papers by the same author are " Polar 

 Organization of Plant Cells," " Some Eecent 

 Eesearches on the Cilia-forming Organ of 

 Plant Cells," " Apogamy in the Ferns," " The 

 Origin of Archegoniates," " The Permanence 

 of Chromosomes in Plant Cells," all of 

 which appeared in the American Naturalist 

 during the past year or two. — Edith Hyde con- 

 tributes her mite to the cytological treasury 

 in a paper on " The Eeduction Division in the 

 Anthers of Hyacinthus orientalis," in the 

 Ohio Naturalist for June, 1909. — "The Em- 

 bryo Sac of Habenaria " {Bot. Gaz., Oct., 

 1909) has been carefully studied by W. H. 

 Brown, adding to our knowledge of the em- 

 bryo sac and the early stages of the embryo. 

 — ^Professor Sehailner contributes a valuable 

 paper on " The Eeduction Division in the 

 Microsporocytes of Agave virginica " (Bot. 

 Gaz., March, 1909) bringing out the succes- 

 sive steps in the process. — Dr. A. A. Lawson's 

 paper on " The Gametophs^tes and Embryo of 

 Pseudotsuga douglasii " (Ann. Bot., April, 

 1909) leads him to the conclusion that " this 

 genus is not closely related to Tsuga," and 

 that " the view that the Abietineae are the 

 most ancient group of the Coniferales is very 

 much strengthened." — A careful cytological 

 study of the " Microsporophylls of Gingko " 

 (Bot. Gaz., Jan., 1910) by Anna M. Starr 

 shows that the microsporophylls are in stro- 

 bili that develop acropetally, with suggestions 

 that they may have come " from a peltate 

 type like the microsporophylls of Taxus." 



SUMMER LABORATORIES 



It is not too early for botanists to be plan- 

 ning for their summer outing and study, and 

 so a notice of the prospectuses of waterside 

 and mountain laboratories at this time is not 

 out of place. 



The Marine Biological Laboratory at 

 Woods Hole, Mass., offers again courses in 

 Plant Structures and Eesponses, Morphology 

 and Taxonomy of the Fungi (by Dr. Duggar), 

 besides the usual facilities for research work. 

 It opens June 29 and closes August 9. Dr. 



