T. Holm — Studies in the Cyperacem. 15 



by a membranous sheath at the base of which a small, roundish 

 wart soon becomes visible, and which represents the primary 

 root. The cotyledon, on the contrary, stays inside the seed, its 

 function being to absorb the endosperm. These are the general 

 features of the germination, and .it may, at first glance, seem 

 to be a very easy matter to define these various organs, which 

 as we have shown constitute the seedling. We may, by con- 

 sidering our figure lb, define the conical body (C) as represent- 

 ing the cotyledon and as being identical with the scutellum of 

 the Graminece / we may define the sheathing leaf (Sh) as the 

 second leaf, and L' as the first developed green leaf. The pri- 

 mary root (R) is already relatively long and covered with root- 

 hairs. By comparing now this figure (lb) with our figure 1, 

 we notice the same organs, besides a stem-part (j) which sepa- 

 rates the cotyledon (C) from the sheathing leaf (Sh) ; a sec- 

 ondary root (r) has developed from this stem-part, and another 

 one (/•'), but much younger, has started to break out through 

 the base of the sheathing leaf (/Sh). One should, according 

 to these figures, never doubt the morphological identity of 

 these organs, as we have defined them above, especially when 

 we point out the long internode (j) which lies between 

 the cotyledon (C) and the sheathing leaf (Sh), viz : that 

 these organs should not be independent of each other. It 

 seems, nevertheless, to be a most difficult task to define 

 them correctly, so as to bring them in strict conformity with 

 the corresponding organs in the other monocotyledonous plants, 

 and at the same time avoid bringing their anatomical structure 

 in contest with their rank in a morphological respect. If we, 

 for instance, consider the body at C as the cotyledon, its struc- 

 ture must correspond with that of a leaf, and if we, also, 

 define the sheathing organ at Sk as a leaf, this must not be in 

 any connection with the other one at C ; furthermore, if the 

 stem-part (j) is really an internode, it must show a structure in 

 conformity herewith. The difficulty is, however, that these 

 organs do not exactly show the anatomical structure as they 

 " ought," according to our idea, and even if a morphological 

 consideration may seem more natural, we cannot feel justified 

 in overlooking the structural characters. We will, therefore, 

 in our attempt- to explain this matter, strive to establish a con- 

 formity, so that the morphological peculiarities may be brought 

 in accordance with the anatomical ones, and we believe this 

 may be attained by presuming that some modification exists in 

 the development of some of these organs. A literary research 

 upon this question is exceedingly instructive, and there are, 

 indeed, few stages in the plant life that have required so many 

 and such able investigations in order to become understood, as 

 has the germination of the Graminem and the Cyperacem. 



