16 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JANUARY 
are prismatic on account of pressure, are so scattered that they are 
nearly always round in vertical view (fig. 18). 
FERTILIZATION 
All observations indicate that fertilization takes place as in 
Dioon edule, the liquid from the pollen tube lowering the turgidity 
of the neck cells of the archegonium, so that they allow the escape 
of a portion of the cytoplasm of the upper part of the egg, thus 
producing a vacuole which draws the sperm into the egg. 
In numerous instances the sperms were observed within the egg, 
occasionally two or three sperms entering the same egg, but in 
such cases the extra sperms remain at the top of the egg, and the 
nuclei do not slip out from the cytoplasmic sheath. The actual 
fusion of the sperm and egg nuclei was not observed, and con- 
sequently it cannot be stated at present whether they fuse in the 
resting condition or behave as in Pinus. 
Embryo 
The extent of the free nuclear period in the development of the 
embryo was not determined, the latest stage observed being the 
256-nucleate stage shown in fig. 19. No stages were found between 
this and the young embryos with suspensors shown in figs. 20-22. 
The membrane of the egg, often with traces of the archegonium 
jacket clinging to it, persists for a long time. Five such membranes, 
each with a suspensor coming from its base, are shown in fig. 20. 
In this case four of the suspensors, each with an embryo at its tip, 
have united, forming a single suspensor with a single embryo. 
The other suspensor, with its embryo, advanced only half as far 
before it ceased to develop. In another case (fig. 21), two suspen- 
sors with their embryos have united, and the third, although smaller, 
has reached about the same length. In another case (fig. 22), all 
the suspensors and embryos developed separately. These cases 
are characteristic. A single embryo may be the product of one 
fertilization or may come from several eggs. In early stages, the 
young embryos are more or less irregular (fig. 23), but regularity is 
soon established. 
The strobili disorganize and shed their seeds very early, often 
