438 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [November 



polar, not merely in position but also in function. The micropylar polar 

 then fuses with the upper six nuclei toward the antipodal region, resulting in a 

 fusion nucleus of seven nuclei; while the remaining six nuclei form the antipo- 

 dal complex. The cells of this complex enlarge after the entrance of the tube, 

 but after fertilization they degenerate. 



Spermatogenesis was also followed, verifying the chromosome count, and 

 showing a remarkable behavior of the pollen grain in frequently sending two 

 tubes into the same style. Double fertilization was observed, so that the 



ght 



Samuels 



to the embryo sacs of gymnosperms. He also concludes that such a sac 

 represents four megaspores in its origin. — J. M. C. 



Paleob otanical notes. — In 1906 Scott published briefly the genus Botry- 

 chioxylon, and now there has appeared the full account.^ The genus is of 



sim 



form "has advanced in the direction of substituting secondary for primary 

 xylem." There is also anatomical evidence that it holds an intermediate 

 position between Botryopterideae and Ophioglossaceae, thus linking the latter 

 with the ancient ferns. 



Arber 26 has described a new species of the problematical genus Psygrno- 

 pkyllum, from the Lower Carboniferous of Newfoundland, and in a revision of 

 the genus recognizes six species, distributed from Upper Devonian to Permian. 

 As to the affinities of the genus, nothing can be determined in the absence of 

 fructifications. There is a suggestive resemblance of the leaves to those of 

 Ginkgo, but Arber is convinced that the similarity is purely artificial. He 

 associates the genus with other genera of the Paleozoic (as Ginkgophyllum^ 

 Dicranophyllum, etc.) as a distinct group under the name Palaeophyllales, 

 which may or may not have been the ancestors of the Ginkgoales. 



Dr. Stopes 27 has recorded the existence of angiosperms in the Aptian 

 (Lower Cretaceous) of England, an earlier horizon than any in which angio- 

 sperms were known to occur. The specimens are in the collections of the 

 British Museum of Natural History, and have been made the basis of the 

 description of three new genera (Aptiana, Woburnia, Sabulia). The structure 

 ' of the wood lends no support to the view that angiosperms arose from gymno- 

 sperms, since it is like that of high-grade angiosperms in all details. The wood 



^ ._ i n 1 • 



2 * Scott, D. H., On Botrychioxylon paradoxum, sp. nov., a paleozoic fern with 

 secondary wood. Trans. Linn. Soc. London II. Bot. 7:373-389. pis. 37~4i- i9 12 - 



26 Arber, E. A. Newell, On Psygmophyllum majus, sp. nov., from the Lower 

 Carboniferous rocks of Newfoundland, together with a revision of the genus and 

 remarks on its affinities. Trans. Linn. Soc. London II. Bot. 7:391-407. pis. 4 2 "44- 

 fig. 1. 191 2. 



Marie 



Phil. 



Trans. Roy. Soc. London B 203:75-100. pis. 6-8. 1912. 



