148 MINNESOTA BOTANICAL STUDIES. 



esting parallelisms and as such do not carry much weight. 



Of the two genera Syinplocarpus is the most highly special- 

 ized and should he regarded as phylogenetically farther advanced 

 than the other. This is shown among other things in the colored 

 scale leaves developed in place of the normal foliage leaves, in the 

 blasting of a majority of the inflorescences, and in the complete 

 destruction of the seed coats by the embryo. 



In Ly si chit on some of the foliage leaves only become reduced 

 in size but do not take on a different color. Two ancient scale 

 leaves are still retained on the renewal shoot although they are 

 so inclosed as to be non-functional. Most of the inflorescences 

 laid down come to maturity and the embryo does not destroy the 

 seedcoats. 



Geographical distribution: The two monotypic genera have 

 a somewhat peculiar yet not unusual geographic distribution. Sym- 

 plocarpus is found in wet. springy places of eastern North America 

 from Xova Scotia to North Carolina and ranges westward as 

 far as Minnesota and Iowa. Its northern limit seems to be 

 southern Quebec, Ontario and Lake Superior. It is also recorded 

 from eastern Asia in the Amur region and from Japan. 



Lysichiton occurs in swamps and bogg}- places of the for- 

 ests of the Pacific coast from Alaska to northern California and 

 ranges eastward in Canada as far as the Beaver River Valley 

 and the Columbia River in the Selkirk mountains. It has been 

 reported from Isle Royale in Lake Superior, but the report has 

 not been substantiated by any authentic collection. It occurs in 

 Japan, on the island of Sakhalin and in Kamschatka, from which 

 place it was originally described by Linnaeus. 



Such a wide geographical distribution is remarkable when the 

 fruits and seeds are taken into account. No special devices for 

 dissemination have been developed. The fruits are dry and in- 

 edible, the seeds large and heavy. In Symplocarpus the almost 

 spherical embryos are larger than good-sized peas, in Lysichiton 

 the seeds are about half that size. They both contain a large 

 amount of stored food in the form of starch, and in the case of 

 Lysichiton at least, are eagerly sought by squirrels. These animals 

 sometimes devour the seeds directly from the plants, at other 

 times they climb upon convenient stumps and branches where they 

 sit and shell out the seeds and now and then drop some of them 



