102 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [FEBRUARY 
usually finds about 3-6 staminate cones scattered along the new 
shoot (text fig. 3). Each cone terminates a short leafy branch, 
which may occasionally continue its growth the following season, 
but usually the cone dries up, turnsebrown, and falls off the winter 
following the shedding of its pollen (text fig. 3). The mature cones 
are very large, immediately after having shed their pollen being 
frequently as much as 15 cm. long and 3 cm. in diameter; they are 
about one-third smaller before shedding. Text fig. 4 shows an 
unopened cone, a cone shedding its pollen, and the apical view of 
a mature cone broken in two, about natural size. Suchaconeasis — 
shown in the photograph has about 1000 sporophylls, disposed in 
about 12 spiral rows, each of which makes 2 or 2.5 turns. There 
are usually 10-15 sporangia, pendent (text figs. 5 and 6) from the 
expanded distal portion of the sporophyll on its morphologically 
abaxial side. Each sporangium contains 500-1000 pollen grains. 
A little calculation will show that the output of a terminal bud 
may easily reach a billion pollen grains. The pollen is shed in the 
spring from the first of April to the latter part of May for the most 
part, although I have found cones shedding in December and as 
late as July 1. The sporangia dehisce through longitudinal slits 
on the sides of the sacs facing the other row of sporangia, so that 
the pollen is shed into the space between the inner and outer rows 
of sporangia. 
By dissecting the terminal buds already referred to, one can 
recognize the young cones when they are merely rounded growing 
points. Each one is enveloped in two or three layers of delicate 
leaves and is slightly flattened on the side next the main axis of the 
bud. Plate fig. 1 shows a slightly older cone, on which the first 
sporophylls are forming. A sporophyll is first recognizable as 4 
group of meristematic cells (plate fig. 2) just beneath a slight 
emergence of the smooth surface of the growing point (plate fig. 1)- 
This emergence increases in size rapidly by growth throughout. 
Very soon its distal end expands until the whole structure somewhat 
resembles a mushroom with a very short stalk and one-half of the 
pileus removed. The stalk is so short that the abaxially placed 
swollen portion of the sporophyll is in contact with the cone axis. 
‘From its surface grow the sporangia, elongating toward the cone 
