THE EMBRYOGENY OF CYRTANTHUS PARVIFLORUS BAKER 
Wm. Randolph Taylor 
(Received for publication April 7, 1021) 
Introduction 
The question of the lelationship of monocotyledonous and dicotyledo- 
nous plants, long and hotly debated and yet unsettled, has of late years 
largely been attacked from two angles, the sequence and position of organ 
formation in the early developing embryo, and the vascularization of the 
seedling. The origin of the monocotyledonous type from the primitive 
dicotyledons at one or more points seems an established probability, but 
the stages of the transfer from the one into the other have not been com- 
pletely filled out, and apparent anomalies will remain until we have knowl- 
edge of a vastly greater series of forms than at present. 
In 1 91 7 the wiiter began the preservation and sectioning of material of 
Cyrtanthus parviflorus Baker, with the principal object of securing a com- 
plete series of embryo-sac and embryo stages for demonstration purposes. 
The work had proceeded for some time before he came upon the paper of 
Miss Farrell on the related Cyrtanthus sanguineus (Lindl.) Hook., when it 
was at once evident that the embryological history in the two forms is 
vastly different. From time to time more material of Cyrtanthus parviflorus 
was prepared, until at present a practically unbroken series of stages has 
been secured from fertilization to seed maturity. Young seedlings have 
also been sectioned to follow the history of the vascular bundles and other 
structures in germination. Although this species does not present any new 
situation in monocotyledonous embryogeny, the completeness of the ma- 
terial and the variation it would seem to indicate within a single genus will 
perhaps warrant the presentation of this description as a little evidence 
toward a solution of the major problem. 
Material and Observations 
Under greenhouse culture the plants practically never set seed unless 
hand-pollinated; this rendered unnecessary the castration and bagging of 
the flowers. Fixations followed at suitable intervals after pollination, and 
full records of dates and of time elapsed were preserved. About fifty post- 
fertilization fixations were made and studied, in addition to a lesser number 
dealing with the maturation of the pollen and of the embryo sac. 
Fertilization follows pollination in from 36 to 50 hours, seeming to vary 
somewhat in the different batches. The egg is enclosed in a definite mem- 
brane at the micropylar end of the sac and is fertilized in that position; 
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