A. Gray— Germination of the genus Megarrhiza. 23 
germination ; and we were never able to bring the plant into 
ossom, as it invariably died down to the ground soon after 
making a moderate growth. On germinating some fresh seeds 
early this spring, I was somewhat 
surprised to find that they came up 
in the manner of beans. Instead of 
well out of the soil upon what seemed 
to be a well developed radicle, like 
that of Hchinocystis. If the coty- 
ledons had expanded, though re- 
maining fleshy, in the manner of 
Phaseolus, the difference between this 
and Echinocystis, with cotyledons truly 
foliaceous in germination, would be 
much less than had been supposed. I 
waited long to see if this would 
occur; I also waited in vain for the 
expected development of the plumule 
from between the bases of the fleshy 
cotyledons. After the lapse of about 
a fortnight, the plumule in all three 
oO germinating plantlets came 
separately out of the soil of the pot; 
and, on exposing the whole to view, 
the state of things represented in fig. 
1 came to view. That is, the plumule 
came forth from the base of what ap- 
peared to be an elongated radicle (of 
\\ \ two or three inches in length); and 
\ below this the thickening of the root, 
which acquires enormous dimensions 
wi 
| WA. in old plants, had already commenced. 
3 iV. A large amount of the nourishin 
matter stored in the cotyledons ha 
been carried down to the root and 
cleft at the very base of the seeming 
: radicle, which otherwise a | to 
be solid. But on cutting it across toward the base this was 
found to be tubular, as shown at the bottom of fig. 2; and 
later, when more spent and beginning to wither, this stalk was 
Separable from above downward into two, as shown in the upper 
Part of the same figure. 
