560 
Gibbs. — On the Development of the 
It is interesting to note that this arrangement accords completely with 
the views of the authors quoted above, and also with the results of the 
present work on Podocarpus , as progressive development of the ovuliferous 
scale is correlated in each stage with reduction in strobilus formation. 
The systematic position therefore remains on Pilger’s basis, by merely 
substituting ovuliferous scale for ‘ epimatium 
Morphologically the results may be summarized as follows : 
In Podocarpus , in the youngest phases, a strobilus formation obtains 
which is masked by subsequent modification. 
An actual series of successive stages in the reduction of the strobilus is 
apparent in the different sections of the family. 
In § DACRYCARPUS the peduncle is clothed with scale leaves, in spiral 
sequence, which show increase in size just below the strobilus. 
The strobilus is reduced to two to five bracts, of which one to three 
may be fertile. 
In these bracts, which are more or less unmodified in the younger stages, 
the bases show subsequent swelling and coalescence, ultimately changing 
colour, but the laminae remain green and unaltered. 
The lamina of the fertile bract is fused with the ovuliferous scale to 
the apex of the latter, showing the cohesion between the scale and the sup- 
porting bract seen in Microcachrys and Saxegothaea , as also in Agathis , 
Araucaria , and the Abietineae. 
In § DACRYCARPUS this fusion may be complete, as in P. dacrydioides y or 
sometimes incomplete, as in P. imbricata , where the apex of the fertile 
bract often remains free, and may even exceed that of the scale. 
The ovuliferous scale entirely enfolds the ovule, leaving an orifice at the 
micropylar end where the integument protrudes on pollination ; but sub- 
sequent growth in the lamina of the scale, and swelling at the base of the 
same on the ventral surface, cause the micropyle to be pressed against the 
lower portion of the scale, closing up the orifice. 
In § NAGEIA (if P. vitiensis can be taken as typical of that section) and 
§ STACHYCARPUS the peduncle (branched in the former) is still clothed with 
scale leaves, showing increase in size below the strobilus. 
The strobilus consists of eight to ten bracts, of which all, or only one 
or two of the apical ones, are fertile. These bracts are fleshy and strap-like 
in the youngest stage, and opposite and decussate in arrangement. There 
is no subsequent swelling of the bases, and the laminae may be shed on 
or before fertilization, leaving only scars, which show a spiral sequence, 
due to elongation of the axis. 
The lamina of the ovuliferous scale develops quite independently of the 
lamina of the fertile bract, which enfolds and protects the former in the 
youngest stages, but either remains undeveloped as a ring at the base, or 
is subsequently shed. 
