﻿Botany. 
  231 
  

  

  The 
  contractile 
  power 
  of 
  these 
  roots 
  does 
  not 
  always 
  have 
  the 
  

   result 
  of 
  drawing 
  the 
  shoot 
  deeper 
  into 
  the 
  ground, 
  but 
  may, 
  as 
  

   in 
  Scrophularia 
  nodosa, 
  merely 
  serve 
  to 
  keep 
  the 
  shoot 
  in 
  place. 
  

   In 
  such 
  cases 
  contractile 
  roots 
  assume 
  a 
  function 
  that 
  belongs 
  

   properly 
  to 
  the 
  true 
  attachment-roots, 
  which 
  lack 
  contractile 
  

   power. 
  Storage-roots 
  are 
  such 
  roots 
  as 
  possess 
  a 
  large 
  persistent 
  

   parenchyma, 
  in 
  which 
  nutritive 
  matters 
  are 
  stored. 
  Such 
  roots 
  

   often 
  become 
  tuberous 
  by 
  the 
  excessive 
  development 
  of 
  this 
  

   parenchyma. 
  They 
  are 
  well 
  known 
  in 
  various 
  species 
  of 
  Aeon- 
  

   (turn, 
  JlemerocaUis, 
  Orchis, 
  many 
  Melanthacece, 
  etc. 
  Some 
  

   of 
  these 
  roots 
  may 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  be 
  contractile, 
  as 
  for 
  

   instance 
  in: 
  Succisa, 
  Plantago, 
  Anthericum, 
  Veratrum, 
  etc. 
  

   The 
  author 
  also 
  describes 
  various 
  phases 
  of 
  the 
  biology 
  of 
  the 
  

   root, 
  such 
  as 
  longevity, 
  ramification, 
  periodical 
  development, 
  

   and 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  different 
  root-systems 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  species, 
  

   which 
  include 
  many 
  points 
  of 
  interest 
  and 
  importance. 
  The 
  

   paper 
  is 
  a 
  highly 
  welcome 
  contribution 
  to 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  

   root, 
  in 
  its 
  structure 
  and 
  functions, 
  and 
  deserves 
  to 
  be 
  studied 
  

   carefully. 
  t. 
  h. 
  

  

  2. 
  Die 
  Keimnng 
  der 
  Samen 
  von 
  Anemone 
  apennina 
  / 
  by 
  Fe. 
  

   Hildebra^d. 
  (Berichte 
  d. 
  Deutsch. 
  Botan. 
  Ges. 
  Berlin, 
  1899, 
  

   p. 
  161.) 
  — 
  The 
  author 
  describes 
  a 
  very 
  singular 
  manner 
  of 
  ger- 
  

   minating, 
  as 
  exhibited 
  by 
  Anemone 
  apennina. 
  The 
  cotyledons 
  

   possess 
  long 
  petioles, 
  which 
  have 
  grown 
  together 
  in 
  their 
  

   entire 
  length 
  and 
  pass 
  gradually 
  over 
  into 
  an 
  almost 
  globular 
  

   tuber, 
  which 
  represents 
  the 
  axis 
  of 
  the 
  seedling 
  ; 
  the 
  primary 
  

   root 
  develops 
  from 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  tuber. 
  So 
  far 
  the 
  seedling 
  

   reminds 
  us 
  very 
  much 
  of 
  that 
  of 
  Eranthis 
  hyemalis. 
  But, 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  first 
  season, 
  the 
  author 
  noticed 
  that 
  the 
  basal 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  cotyledonary 
  petioles 
  attained 
  a 
  darker 
  color, 
  and 
  that 
  not 
  

   only 
  hairs 
  developed, 
  but 
  even 
  secondary 
  roots 
  ; 
  besides, 
  an 
  

   anatomical 
  examination 
  proved 
  this 
  same 
  basal 
  part 
  to 
  possess 
  

   the 
  structure 
  of 
  a 
  root 
  with 
  only 
  one 
  central 
  mestome-bundle. 
  

   The 
  seedling 
  exhibits 
  thus 
  the 
  singular 
  case 
  that 
  the 
  basal 
  por- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  grown-together, 
  cotyledonary 
  j:>etioles 
  develops 
  as 
  a 
  

   root, 
  with 
  its 
  structure 
  and 
  function. 
  During 
  the 
  first 
  year 
  the 
  

   seedling 
  develops 
  the 
  first 
  proper 
  leaf, 
  which 
  is 
  green 
  and 
  which 
  

   appears 
  from 
  the 
  apex 
  of 
  the 
  tuber. 
  It 
  might 
  seem, 
  at 
  a 
  first 
  

   glance, 
  more 
  strange 
  than 
  it 
  really 
  is 
  that 
  roothairs 
  and 
  roots 
  

   should 
  develop 
  from 
  the 
  cotyledonary 
  petioles, 
  yet 
  we 
  must 
  remem- 
  

   ber 
  that 
  even 
  petioles 
  of 
  various 
  plants 
  may 
  be 
  easily 
  forced 
  to 
  

   produce 
  roots 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  artificial 
  culture. 
  A 
  close 
  relative 
  

   of 
  this 
  Anemone, 
  A. 
  blanda, 
  does 
  not 
  exhibit 
  this 
  manner 
  of 
  

   germinating. 
  A 
  tuber 
  is 
  developed 
  in 
  this 
  species 
  and 
  the 
  

   petioles 
  of 
  the 
  cotyledons 
  grow 
  together, 
  but 
  no 
  roots 
  or 
  hairs 
  

   develop 
  from 
  their 
  bases, 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  proper 
  leaf 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  

   until 
  the 
  following 
  year, 
  while 
  in 
  the 
  former 
  species 
  it 
  developed 
  

   contemporarily. 
  t. 
  ti. 
  

  

  3. 
  Die 
  Carex-vegetation 
  des 
  Anssevtropischen 
  Sildamerika 
  

   (ausgenommen 
  Paraguay 
  und 
  Si'idbrasilien) 
  ; 
  by 
  Georg. 
  Kuken- 
  

   thal. 
  (Engler'sJahrb, 
  vol. 
  xxvii. 
  Leipzig, 
  1899, 
  p. 
  485.) 
  — 
  Sixty- 
  

  

  