2. THE SEEDS AND SEEDLING OF CAULOPHYLLUM 

 THALICTROIDES. 



Frederic K. Butters. 



Caulophyllum thalictroides (L) Michx. is fairly abundant 

 throughout the whole northeastern part of the United States, and 

 also occurs in eastern Asia. Although it has been known to bot- 

 anists for almost two centuries very little work has been done on 

 the structure and development of the seed, and the germination of 

 the seed appears never to have been observed. 



Dr. Asa Gray ^ described and figured the developing fruit, and 

 the structure of the mature seed. In 1904 Mr, Charles E. Lewis ^ 

 published a short account of the later stages in the development 

 of the embryo in connection with work on the embryogeny of 

 several closely related plants. He appears to have been in error in 

 several of his conclusions concerning Caulophyllum as will appear in 

 the course of this article. 



The material used in investigating the development of the ovules 

 and seeds was obtained in the vicinity of Minneapolis where the 

 plant is very abundant. It was killed in the field in chrom-acetic 

 acid, handled and cut in the usual way, and stained either with 

 iron-alum-haematoxglin, or with the triple safranin-gentian-violet- 

 orange G. stain. Ripe seeds were germinated in the plant house 

 and the seedlings from these were compared with others collected 

 in the field. 



The writer wishes to express his thanks to Dr. H. L. Lyon for 

 aid in collecting material, and for many valuable suggestions made 

 during the early part of this investigation. 



The Fruit. 



As is well known, the fruit of Caulophyllum consists of a pair of 

 stalked, drupe-like seeds subtended by a small scale, the almost ves- 



1 The Genera of the Plants of the United States, 1 : 81, 1849. 



2 Studies on Some Anomalous Dicotyledonous Plants. Bot. Gaz. 37 : 127, 1904. 



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