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SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Staminal Appendages of Aristolochia.* — According to Mdlle. 
Mayoux, the morphological value of the supra-staminal appendages 
of Aristolochia differs in the different species, according as the six 
stamens are equidistant or are arranged in groups of two. In the former 
case (A. elegans') the appendages must be regarded as six stigmas, 
originally bifid, which have become concrescent with the stamens ; 
while in the latter case ( A . sipho) three only of the stigmas have become 
so attached, the other three being suppressed. 
Stigmatic Lobes of Iris.f — Dr. L. Celakovsky compares the petaloid 
stylar leaf of an Iris to the petal of a member of the Sileneae, e. g. 
Saponaria ; the two teeth of the latter, which run down into the wings 
on the upper side of the claw, correspond to the two stigmatic lobes 
in the former. The excrescences of Saponaria differ from those of Iris 
only in their growth being less vigorous than that of the main leaf. 
Cupule of Q,uercus.J— From an examination of an American oak 
(Q. ilicifolia), Dr. L. Celakovsky confirms his previous view that the 
amentaceous inflorescence, both of the Amentiferae and of the Cupu- 
liferae, is derived originally from hermaphrodite flowers; and that, 
while the scales of the cupule are of a foliar nature, the cupule itself is 
axile. Certain oak-galls found in the axils of the leaves bear such a 
remarkable resemblance to an acorn enclosed within a scaly cup as to 
suggest the origin of the cupule from a hypertrophy resulting from the 
injury caused by the puncture of an insect. 
Development of the Seed.§ — Herr G. Kayser has investigated the 
development of the seed in those orders — especially the Umbellifene 
and the Convolvulaceas — in which the ovule has only one integument, 
and in the Onagraceee, Sapindacese, and Tropseolacese, where it has two ; 
with particular reference to the structure of the testa. 
In all the monochlamydeous ovules examined the integument is from 
the first strongly developed in comparison with the nucellus, and this is 
especially the case with the pendent epitropous ovules of the Convolvu- 
lacese. The nucellus is in these cases absorbed very early by the 
embryo-sac, which lies immediately beneath the nuclear protuberance ; 
scarcely a trace of it remains at the time of impregnation, and the 
micropylar canal is long and narrow. Only a portion of the integument 
is used up in the formation of the testa, the greater number of its layers 
having been consumed in the formation of the nutrient tissue. In the 
Umbel liferse there remains in the testa nothing but the epiderm of the 
ovule. 
In the seeds which result from dichlamydeous ovules there is a much 
greater variation in the mode of formation of the testa, and in the period 
of disappearance of the nucellus. In Tropseolum both the nucellus and 
the basal portion of the inner tegument disappear so early that at the 
time of impregnation the ovule has retained its dichlamydeous character 
only at its apex. In (Enothera all the layers of both integuments are 
preserved in the testa ; in JEsculus the leathery testa is the product of 
* Ann. Univ. Lyon, 1892. See Bull. Soc. Bot. France, xl. (1893) Rev. Bibl., 
p. 69. t Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr., xliii. (1893) pp. 269-72 (1 pi.), 
i Tom. cit., pp. 272-7 (1 fig.). Cf. this Journal, 1887, p. 613. 
