io8 



GNETACEAE 



flowers, each one being supported by a bract and formed 

 of a 4-partite perianth and 6 stamens with a rudimentary 

 ovule in the centre. 



The female flowers form a cone-like spike, [3 to 

 2 inches long, a number of such cones, 2 — 6 or even 

 more, being arranged into a cymose inflorescence, of which 

 10 — 30 stand in a row on the margin of the crown of 

 the plant according to its size and age. Each rlowcr is 



Fig. 68 b. °. JVt'lwitschia Bainesii (Hook, fil.) Carricre. Desert near the junction of 

 the rivers Khan and Swakop, 25 miles north east of Walfish Kay. Several specimens 

 of Welwitschia visible in the distance, but no other plant. 

 Photo, by Prof. A. Schenck (1884). 



supported by a large bract and consists of a tubular but 

 broadly winged perianth with an erect ovule. When the 

 flower is fully developed and ready for pollination the neck 

 of the ovule elongates into a long tube*, much exceeding 

 the perianth and finally projecting between the scales of 



* This tube, although resembling the style of some angiospermous plants in external 

 form, is an entirely different organ, being a part of the ovule. 



