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1912] PFEIFFER—LEITNERIA IQgl 
’ before the leaves, early in March. .... The staminate catkins then become 
from one to two inches long, generally curved outward, and their scales spread 
just enough to expose the stamens and allow the very abundant and powdery 
yellow pollen to escape. The soft parenchyma of the axis of inflorescence 
becomes torn in various directions as the catkins elongate, so that when they 
have reached their full development it is loosely fissured throughout. ... . 
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slightly versatile but nearly erect, extrorse, two-celled anthers, dehiscing 
longitudinally. The pollen grains are nearly globose, nee slightly 3-4- 
grooved with underlying thickening of the intine, and fall from the dehiscent 
anther very readily, and there is no doubt that the species is aii adltnaed: 
The pistillate catkin possesses the same loose lacunose structure as the 
staminate, though the axis is far less torn. When fully developed they are 
rarely over half an inch long.... . Unlike the staminate flowers, the pis- 
tillate, which are limited to the upper axils, are very short-stalked or with a 
rudimentary disk, and possess a rudimentary involucre or perianth of a few 
small, glandular-fringed scales, the largest two of which stand nearly laterally, 
while the remainder are dispersed along the side next the axis of the catkin. 
Only one carpel is present. The ovary is shortly ovoid, finely pubescent, one- 
celled, and contains a single ascending parietal ovule with the micropyle 
directed upward. The green or slightly reddish style is attached a little at 
one side, and in anthesis curves outwards and becomes grooved on the stig- 
possessing the general characters of wind-pollinated stigmas. The placenta 
and stigmatic groove are turned away from the axis and face the bract, a very 
unusual position for the suture in a monocarpellary flower, and one which 
appears to indicate that the flower is in reality reduced from a former state in 
which there were two carpels radially arranged with reference to the bract, or 
perhaps a larger number. .. . . 
The fruit isan erect drupe. . .. . Its surface is coarsely rugose reticulated 
over the firm fibrovascular bundles of the pericarp. Near the top it is marked 
by an oblique scar left by the caducous style, and it contains a single large 
with a straight embryo and rather thin layer of albumen. 
The microsporangium 
The microsporangium passes the winter in the mother cell stage. 
In the youngest stamen examined there were four microsporangia, 
each with a considerable amount of sporogenous tissue in the 
mother cell stage. The mother cells numbered as high as five 
across the sporangium, while beyond these there sometimes were 
