18 T. Holm — Studies in the Cyperacece. 



also, at this place, call attention to a work by Klebs (1. c), 

 wherein is given a summary of the different manners of 

 germination, considered from a morphological as well as 

 from a physiological point of view, besides that this author has 

 enumerated the most prominent works upon the subject, which, 

 of course, is a most valuable guide for literary research. 



Having discussed now the germination of our plants, let us 

 examine them at a later stage, when their vegetative organs are 

 fully developed ; and we may begin with the rhizome. We 

 have already mentioned above, that the rhizome of our two 

 species shows a very marked difference in external structure, 

 although their manner of ramification is exactly the same in 

 both species. We find here a true sympodium, and the dif- 

 ference lies merely in the tuberous development of some inter- 

 nodes in F. squarrosa. While the sympodial ramification is 

 very common in the Phanerogames, especially in their rhi- 

 zomes, there are, nevertheless, only a few which exhibit the 

 sympodium so plain as our Fuirena scirpoidea. Figure 7 

 illustrates the anterior part of a rhizome of this species, and 

 we have, also, redrawn the apex of the same, but on a larger 

 scale in order to represent the exact position of each organ (fig. 

 8). The rhizome is horizontally creeping and consists of dis- 

 tinct internodes with scale-like leaves. At certain intervals, in 

 our species, between each two leaves, a flower-bearing stem 

 arises, while an axillary bud develops at the same time, con- 

 tinuing the growth of the rhizome in the same direction, as if 

 it was the terminal bud. By comparing figs. 7 and 8, we 

 notice the scale-like leaf B, which is borne on the main axis 

 (ax 1 ) and which at the same time supports another, but sec- 

 ondary axis (ax 2 ), which is readily seen to be axillary. These 

 two axes (ax 1 and ax 2 ) have fused together and form partly a 

 single internode, but there is a somewhat depressed line to be 

 seen where the fusion has taken place, and the axillary branch 

 is, always, well-marked by having its first leaf developed as a 

 bicarinate prophyllon (pr in figv 8) with its characteristic posi- 

 tion in regard to the main-axis. The rhizome of F. scirpoidea 

 does not branch much to the sides, but when such branches 

 develop, they always originate from the axil of the lowest 

 situated leaf of a flowering stem (fig. 9), while we have not 

 observed any to be developed from the scale-like leaves, except- 

 ing from the apex of the rhizome, as described above. 



The same sympodial ramification is, also, to be found in the 

 other species, F. squarrosa, some parts of the rhizome of which 

 are illustrated in figures 2 and 4, in addition to some diagram- 

 matical drawings in figs. 3 and 5 of the same parts. Figure 3 

 shows, for instance, the apex of an old rhizome (fig. 2) where 

 B is a scale-like leaf from the main stem, the continuation of 



