The Gametophytes, Fertilization and Embryo of 
Cryptomeria Japonica. 
BY 
ANSTRUTHER A. LAWSON, Ph.D., 
Instructor in Botany in Stanford University , California , U.S.A. 
With Plates XXVII-XXX. 
Introduction. 
I NVESTIGATIONS of the last few years have added much to our 
knowledge of the morphology of the Coniferales. Some of the more 
recent, and probably the most important of these contributions, refer to the 
family Taxodieae. Arnold i’s observations on Sequoia , Taxodium , Glypto- 
strobus , Arthrotaxis, Sciadopitys, Cunninghamia and Cryptomeria , while 
more or less fragmentary in nature, have nevertheless thrown considerable 
light on the morphology of the gametophytes or embryos of these forms. 
Coker’s work on Taxodium is probably the most complete account of the 
life-history of any Conifer that has yet been published by one investigator, 
and constitutes a valuable addition to our knowledge of this group. The 
present writer’s account of the gametophytes of Sequoia sempervirens , which 
recently appeared in the pages of this Journal, completes the life-history of 
one of the most important and interesting of the Coniferales. 
In addition to the broad phases of morphology that have been brought 
to light, these investigations have shown quite conclusively that the present 
family of the Taxodieae is an artificial one, and the genera representing the 
Taxodieae and Cupresseae should be rearranged. This Arnoldi has 
already suggested, and he believes that the genus Sequoia should constitute 
a family by itself, the Sequoiaceae ; that Cunninghamia , Taxodium , and 
Cryptomeria should be placed with the Cupresseae, and that Sciadopitys 
should constitute a family by itself, the Sciadopitaceae. 
While the results of the above-mentioned investigations would seem 
to warrant such a change, our knowledge of the gametophytes and embryo 
of the majority of these Conifers is still very meagre. Indeed Taxodium 
and Sequoia are the only two whose recorded life-histories are approxi- 
mately complete. It has therefore seemed to me, that before making any 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XVIII. No. LXXI. July, 1904.] 
