260 PROF. W. C. WILLIAMSON ON A NEW FORM 



Carruthers's careful description makes a comparison of the 

 points of agreement and difference easy. Describing Mr. 

 Binney's specimen he says, ^' At regular intervals the axis 

 gives off whorls of appendages which are alternately foliar 

 and fruit-bearing.^^ We here note the first difference. 

 In my example each node gives off both these elements. 

 ^' The foliar whorl consists of twelve leaves,, which pro- 

 ceed horizontally from the axis until they reach the circum- 

 ference of the strobilus^ where they take an ascending 

 direction. The leaves are united together by their margins 

 until they reach the outside of the fruity and form a con- 

 tinuous septum^ dividing the strobilus into a series of 

 chambers. ^^ This description, allowing for the inflections 

 which I have described, identifies the structure spoken of 

 with my bractigerous disk. Thus far we find the essential 

 conformation of the two fruits exhibiting a close correspond- 

 ence. Mr. Carruthers says, " Between each foliar whorl 

 there is a verticil of leaves specially developed for the 

 support of sporangia.^^ On this point the two types differ. 

 Instead of this alternation, in my specimen the fruit-bear- 

 ing organs, or sporangiophores^ are developed at each node 

 instead of at alternate nodes ; and in the place of shooting 

 out at right angles directly from the central axis, they 

 spring obliquely, or almost vertically, from the upper sur- 

 face of the foliar verticil or bractigerous disk. In Mr. 

 Carruthers^ s description, the end of each of these sporan- 

 giophores is described as being peltate. In only one instance 

 have I been able to trace the upper part of the sporan- 

 giophore in my example ; and, like the specimen described 

 by M. Ludwig, it appears to have been a thorn-like process, 

 unprovided with any peltate extremity. The structure of 

 the sporangium-wall is identical in the two cases ; and the 

 arrangement of the sporangia around the sporangiophore 

 is also similar, making allowance for the vertical position 

 of the latter in mv instance, and its horizontal one in 



