Embryo in Lilaea subulata , H.B.K. n 
These basal flowers arise on either side of the floral axis 
(Fig. 2 , ? ), and are very early recognizable. In these the 
young ovule is already evident as a slender prominence 
whose axial nature is unmistakable, and it represents, with 
little question, the end of the metamorphosed shoot which 
constitutes the flower. Sometimes, and perhaps always, the 
flower has at its base a small bract, in which respect it differs 
from the pistillate flowers of the spike, which are destitute of 
a similar subtending bract. The central ovular rudiment 
(Fig. 1 5, o) is enclosed by a cup-shaped envelope arising from 
the growth of the surrounding tissue, and this body, the 
carpel, which is formed precisely as in Naias , is probably 
to be considered as a foliar member. It is of equal height 
on all sides, and shows no evident dorsi-ventral structure. 
The pistillate flowers upon the spike are of two kinds, 
those which stand alone at the base of the spike, and those 
which are associated with the male flowers. The former are 
longer-styled, and are in this respect intermediate between 
the extremely long-styled ones and the upper short-styled 
ones. In the lower flowers of the spike, the whole primordium 
is transformed into the flower ; in the upper ones, as we have 
seen, there is first a dichotomy of the primordium, only one 
member of which forms the pistillate flower. In both cases, 
however, the flower is to be looked upon as a transformed 
shoot, whose apex develops into the ovule, while the carpel 
represents a foliar appendage of the floral axis. 
In a section of the young pistillate flower from the spike 
(Fig. 17), the ovule is not nearly so conspicuous as in the 
long-styled flowers. Here the young carpel is developed 
much more strongly upon the inner side, while upon the outer 
side it is not clearly distinguishable from the ovular rudiment, 
which is much less noticeable at this stage than it is in the 
long-styled flowers. The ovule is not so slender as that of 
the basal flowers, and more rounded at the end ; but by 
comparing it with a somewhat older one (Fig. 19), it is 
evident that here too the ovule is the transformed apex of 
the shoot. The young short-styled flower, at this stage, is 
