41 8 Hill . — The Morphology and Seedling Structure of the 
In the case of the seedlings of AHsaema Draconiium 1 , the so-called 
first leaf, which pushes its way through the soil with a sharply bent petiole 
from the base of the cotyledonary sheath, invites comparison with the 
aerial cotyledon of Peperomia peruviana or P. parvifolia. There is, however, 
one important difference between them, since the first leaf of the Aroid, 
together with the plumule and radicle, has been carried out of the seed at 
Text-figs, of seedlings of AHsaema and Arum. 
s — seed ; c x = absorbent cotyledon; c 2 = ‘ first leaf’ or aerial cotyledon; c L s = scar of 
cotyledon ; / 1} l 2 = plumular leaves ; p — plumule ; T = tuber ; R — primary root. 
Figs, i and 2. AHsaema dracontium (after Rimbach). 
1. Seedling showing the sheath of the absorbent cotyledon and the upgrowth of the so-called 
‘ first leaf’ with its sharply bent petiole. 
2. An older stage, with the scar of the absorbent cotyledon. The tuber has developed, and the 
primary root has been displaced by contractile adventitious roots. 
Fig. 3. Arum maculatum (after Scott and Sargant). 
3. Diagram representing the course of the bundles in the epicotyledonary region of the stem, 
the two first seedling leaves (c x , c 2 ) are seen to be directly opposite to one another. 
4. Arum sp ., a median longitudinal section through the plumule and hypocotyl, showing the 
junction of the vascular bundles at the same horizontal level. 
an early stage of germination, after the manner of Monocotyledons. This 
leaf, therefore, grows up from the base of the sheath (cf. Text-fig. 8, p. 420, 
and Fig. 50, PL XXX), and its lamina is not actually withdrawn from the 
seed, as in P. peruviana . The lamina of the e cotyledon ’ is represented by 
the highly specialized rounded or club-shaped absorbent organ (Fig. 49 a , 
PI. XXX), which always remains in the seed, and resembles the similarly 
1 Rimbach, Bot. Gaz., 1900, xxx, p. 174, PI. XIII, Figs. 1 and 2. 
