THE MORPHOLOGY AND AFFINITIES OF GNETUM 
II. Embryo 
The nucleus of the fertihzed egg is large and dense. Its nucleolus 
is extremely large and has a distinct cavity in the center. In G. gnemon 
the fertilized egg is surrounded by a mass of protoplasm and free 
nuclei (see figure 54), while in G. sp. jj it is surrounded by cells of the 
endosperm (figure 51). The development of the embryo in G. sp. jj 
will be described first. 
The fertilized egg divides two or three times and produces a small 
group of cells. These divisions are accompanied by wall formation. 
There appears to be no definite order in the divisions and no definite 
arrangement of the cells. This pro-embryo can usually be readily 
distinguished from the surrounding endosperm cells by the density 
of the protoplasm and size of the nuclei and nucleoli. Figure 74 
represents such a pro-embryo against the end of the pollen tube. 
Each cell then elongates to form a suspensor (figures 75 and 76) which 
penetrates far towards the bottom of the endosperm. (It will be 
recalled that most of the growth of the endosperm occurs in the lower 
part of the sac.) These suspensors are very difficult to follow and 
consequently it is hard to determine their nuclear condition with 
certainty. In almost all cases one can find only a single enormously 
large nucleus in each. I have, however, seen newly forming sus- 
pensors with two nuclei and in G. moluccense I have seen two large 
nuclei near the end of an elongated suspensor. On account of the 
difficulty of tracing the tortuous suspensors through their whole 
length, however, it may be that some nuclei were overlooked. But 
in any case very few nuclei are present, probably only one normally. 
If more are formed they must degenerate very quickly.^ In the 
much elongated suspensors the common appearance is a great length 
of empty tube with a mass of deeply staining protoplasm and a huge 
nucleus only at the end. So far as I have observed walls are never 
formed in this suspensor, and there is very little branching. 
The later stages of embryogeny I have seen only in G. moluccense 
and in G. funiculare but as in most other respects these species re- 
semble G. sp. jj it is altogether likely that in the latter species the 
conditions are similar. In G. moluccense the suspensors are very 
often found outside the endosperm. They grow either through 
the latter or just between it and the nucellus. Sometimes they grow 
1 I regret that in my preliminary note (28) I gave the impression that many 
nuclei were present. 
