THE STRUCTURE OF THE FRUITS OF GRASSES WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR 
— .  MORPHOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION. 
HISTORICAL REVIEW. 
The first writer to mention the fruits of grasses from a morphologi- 
cal point of view was Malphigi, who described the embryos of Triticum 
and Avena in 1687. He regarded the seutellum as representing the 
eotyledon. Nothing further was written concerning the embryo of 
grasses for a hundred years, when Gaertner? described it in 1788. He 
studied a considerable number of species, especially in regard to the 
scutellum. The name “scutellum” was first used by him. He 
regarded the “ vitellus“ as a transition between the endosperm and 
the cotyledon. A. L.de Jussieu? in describing the grass fruit used the 
term “lobus ” implying the cotyledon. 
In the year 1808 Poiteau* concluded that the sheath in the embryo, 
called “ vitellus" and “ scutellum " by Gaertner, is a true cotyledon. 
He decided that the epiblast must be the rudiment of a second cotyle- 
don, because of its position opposite to the cotyledon or scutellum. 
Richard? in the same year presented the view that the seutellum 
originates from the lower part of the radicle, and that therefore the 
scutellum is a lateral protuberance of the radicle. By imagining 
the plumule raised in such a manner that it stands at right angles to 
the long axis of the scutellum, he constructed a homology with the 
embryos of the Naiadacew, Alismacec, Hydrocharidacec, and Nymphea- 
cee. The word epiblast originated with Richard. He regarded it as 
a continuation of the root sheath, basing his opinion on a section cut 
obliquely through the embryo of Oryza. 
In 1809 Kirbel® compared a number of embryos of the grasses in the 
resting and germinating stages with those of other monocotyledons. 
He believed that the scutellum represented a cotyledon and that the 
epiblast was a reduced cotyledon. In another work’ Kirbel regarded 
! Opera omnia. 1687. 
? De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. 
Genera plantarum secundum ordines n 
^Mémoire sur l'embryon des Graminées, 
5 Analyse des embryons Endorh. ou Monoc. et part de cel. d. Gr. 1808 
6Eléments de Physiologie végétable, r. I. 1809 
Examen de la division des végétaux en Endorhizes et Exorhizes. 1810. i 
1788. 
aturales disposita. P. 28. 1789. 
des Cypéracées et du Nelumbo. 1808. 
