The Relation of Root to Stem in Catamites. 
BY 
ARTHUR J. MASLEN, F.L.S. 
With Plates I and II, and a Figure in the Text. 
Introduction. 
T HE identity of Williamson’s genus Astromyelon with the roots of 
Calamites has been shown by Renault 1 and later by Williamson and 
Scott 2 . 
Casts and impressions of Calamitean stems showing attached adven- 
titious roots have often been figured and described. Lindley and Hutton 
figure in their £ Fossil Flora of Great Britain 3 1 specimens with roots 
inserted just above the nodes of the stem, and one of Grand’ Eury’s 
figures, which is reproduced by Seward in his textbook 4 , shows three 
nodes each with adventitious roots inserted either at or immediately above 
them. Weiss also gives good figures of Calamitean stems with attached 
roots, and some of these show clearly the continuity of the central 
cylinder of the roots with the vascular bundles of the stem at the node 5 . 
Renault also figures roots inserted on the nodes of the stem 6 . 
In most cases the roots arise in whorls, but according to Weiss they 
are sometimes grouped in tufts which arise close to the insertion of the lateral 
branches 7 . 
So much has long been known, but, nevertheless, much difference 
of opinion has been expressed with reference to the exact mode of attach- 
ment of the roots to the stems. 
In Equisetum , with which it is natural to compare Calamites , the 
adventitious roots arise from the base of the lateral branches, one 
1 Nouvelles recherches stir, le genre Astromyelon , de la Soc. des Sci. Nat. de Saone-et- 
Loire, 1885. 
2 Further Observations on the Organization of the Fossil Plants of the Coal-Measures, Part II 
The Roots of Calamites, Phil. Trans., vol. 186, B. 1895. 
3 Vol. I, Plates LXXVIII and LXXIX. 4 Fossil Plants, vol. i, Fig. 77, p. 316. 
5 Steinkohlen-Calamarien, Abhandlungen zur geologischen Specialkarte von Preussen, 1884, 
Part II, PI. 2. 
6 Renault and Zeiller, Flore houillere de Commentry, Part II, PI. LVII, Fig. 1. 
7 Loc. cit., Part II, Plates VIII and IX. 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XIX. No. LXXIII. January, 1905.] 
