346 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 



and I was unable to find any traces of them, though Mr. Rattray 

 drew my attention to an old plant around which were growing a 

 considerable number of small ones, apparently seedlings. On the 

 other hand I found a male cone on a plant growing in a fairly open 

 situation in the Queen's Park at East London, and saw a coning 

 female in the garden of Mr. W. Smale, of East London. Mr. Smale, 

 who has known this plant for fifteen years, informs me that, with 

 one or perhaps two exceptions, it has produced cones annually. In 

 cultivation in the northern hemisphere cones " have been repeatedly 

 produced" (Thisclton-Dyer, I.e.). 



Miss Pegler has made the following observations on the rate of 

 growth of a male cone on a wild plant growing on the bank of a 

 stream-bed (usually dry) in the Kentani forests : — 



Jan. 29. 

 Feb. 5. 

 Feb. 24. 

 Mar. 3. 

 Mar. 17. 

 Mar. 20. 

 Apr. 5. 

 Apr. 21. 

 Apr. 28. 

 May 3. 

 May 5. 



Cone first seen ; about 2 in. high. 



,, 4 in. 



high 



; 8 in. in circum: 



„ 81 in. 





10J in. „ 



„ 8i in. 





11 in. ,, 



,, 9Jin. 





Hf in. „ 



,, 10f in. 





12 in. „ 



„ 11 in. 





12|in. „ 



,, 12 in. 





13 in. „ 



„ 14i in. 





; Vdi in - » 



,, 20 in. 





13J in. „ 



„ 211 in. 





131 in. ,, 



Peduncle 0. 







„ o. 







„ o. 







„ 1 



in. 



high 



» 2 i 



in. 



ii 



„ 4 



in. 



ii 



„ 7 



in. 



1 1 



„ 8 



in. 



1 1 



,, 8 



in. 



ii 



„ 8J 



in. 



ii 



,, 9 



in. 



ii 



On April 5th the sporophylls began to separate, and on May 5th 

 they were open to their fullest extent and the pollen was falling 

 freely. See Text-fig. 1. 



The cone therefore shewed two distinct periods of growth, viz., 

 from January 29th to February 24th, and from April 5th, when the 

 sporophylls began to separate, until its elongation ceased on May 5th. 

 During the intervening period of forty days the most rapid elonga- 

 tion of the peduncle occurred while the axis of the cone itself added 

 only 2-J- in. to its length. In Stangeria and in other species of 

 Encephalartos it is ascertained that the microsporangia contain adult 

 pollen-grains when the sporophylls begin to separate. It may there- 

 fore be assumed that during the forty days in which the elongation 

 of the cone-axis was exceedingly slow, the development of the pollen- 

 brains from an early condition of the archesporium was taking place. 

 The greatly accelerated increase in length which occurred after 

 April 21st may possibly have been influenced by a three days' rain, 

 which fell between that date and April 28th, though the growth 

 of the peduncle was not appreciably affected by it. 



