66 T. Holm — Erigenia hulbosa. 



lateral roots were observed at this stage. The depth of the 

 tuber is, however, changed, and it seems as if it becomes 

 buried deeper and deeper in the ground every season, not by 

 means of contractile roots, but by continued deposits of sedi- 

 ment from the river during the winter, when the localities 

 become inundated. 



Erigenia thus germinates with only one cotyledon and the 

 basal portion of the primary root shows a distinct swelling 

 during the first year. This manner of germinating very much 

 resembles that of Carum Bulbocastanum, which according to 

 Irmisch's observations does not develop more than one cotyle- 

 don, the other one staying as rudimentary, but observable in 

 the seed itself. Adventitious roots develop sometimes from 

 the base of the cotyledonar petiole in this species of Carum, 

 and similar roots have, also, been observed upon the under- 

 ground portion of the hypocotyl in Chcerophyllum bulbosum. 

 In Erigenia, however, we found no seedlings, where such 

 adventitious roots had developed from the base of the petiole. 

 Some of the other Umbelliferw exhibit, also, a somewhat 

 singular manner of germinating, viz : Smyrnium olusatrum, 

 in which the hypocotyl is very short, while the cotyledonar 

 petioles form a tube of 8-1 5 mm in length, which the plumule 

 has to penetrate in order to reach the light. Ferula Cande- 

 labrum and Tordylium Syriacum illustrate a similar germina- 

 tion, but the cotyledonar tube is much shorter in these ; 

 Ferulago, Prangos, Chwrophyllum bulbosum and Smymium 

 perfoliatum possess also a cotyledonar tube, and the cotyledons 

 are in the two last named the only assimilating organs of the 

 plant during the first year. 



In returning to Erigenia, there is, as we have stated above, 

 a regular succession of scale-like and green leaves, which con- 

 tinues for about four years ; after that time there may be 

 developed two or three scale-like leaves, while at the same 

 time the aerial leaf has attained the same size and shape as the 

 later developed stem-leaves. The plant does not seem to 

 reach its flowering stage until about six or seven years after 

 the seed has germinated, and the flowering stem is in its bud- 

 stage protected by about four scale-like leaves, tightly enclosing 

 each other. When we, therefore, examine a flowering speci- 

 men of Erigenia, we find only scale-like leaves at the apex of 

 the tuber, and the first green leaf at this stage is situated upon 

 the stem some distance from the tuber, but close to the surface 

 of the ground. The distance from the tuber to the first green 

 leaf varies very much and depends of course upon the depth 

 of the tuber in the ground ; we observed specimens in which 

 this stem-internode was only 1 or 2 cm in length, while in 

 others it reached 13 cm . In most cases only a single stem is 



