Fagaceae , and its Bearing on the Affinities of the Group. 513 
in the bud ; they are, therefore, pollinated by the pollen from the staminate 
flowers on the lower catkins of the same or other plants. In Castanea also, 
this must necessarily be the case, for the stamens of the female flowers 
seldom contain any fully developed pollen-grains. Cross fertilization is 
probably effected, to some extent, by bees, which sometimes visit Sweet 
Chestnut trees in great numbers. Eichler (8) only mentions the presence 
of ‘ six staminodia opposite the perianth lobes * in the female flowers of 
Castanea ; but more than six are sometimes to be found, and from 
their position it is evident that twelve is the original number, arranged as 
in C. chrysophylla. 
These genera may be added, therefore, to the numerous cases fully 
described by Kerner (14), where a diclinous plant shows marked protogyny. 
It seems obvious that extreme protogyny might in certain cases tend to 
a separation of the sexes, for the early development of the stigmas would 
naturally lead to the pollination of the pistils on the younger branches 
by pollen from flowers on the older ones of the inflorescence. This tendency 
would render the pistils of the older and earlier flowers and the stamens 
in the younger later flowers comparatively useless, and prepare the way for 
their elimination. 
That such a process might be much modified by other circumstances, 
such as the relative positions of the flowers, is evident, when such complex 
cases of dichogamy as those among the Umbelliferae are taken into con- 
sideration, but in the Fagaceae a series of stages in the process appears to 
be represented, for while in Castanopsis we have apparently functional 
stamens in the female flowers, in Castanea we find these stamens containing 
little or no good pollen; in the Oak they are reduced usually to mere 
papillae, while in the Beech as a rule they are entirely absent. 
The ovary in Castanopsis , as in the other Fagaceae, is completely fused 
with the receptacular cup, and though usually trilocular, four or even more 
loculi frequently are present, particularly in the flowers growing at the 
apex of each tuft. The three main loculi occur opposite the larger perianth 
lobes, the extra one appearing opposite the smaller lobes. The placentation 
is axile, and the ovules, like those of Castanea , are paired, suspended, 
bitegumentary, and epitrope. 
The ovary of the staminate flower at the time of opening is not 
merely rudimentary as in Castanea , but shows an interesting stage of 
arrested development. The six placental margins can be clearly seen 
projecting into the cavity of the ovary, but not meeting in the middle. 
The lower half of each margin is fused with the neighbouring one, but 
above it becomes free and runs up into the style. Between the style and 
the stamens the ovary wall grows up into a disc-like ring of tissue, so 
that the style appears to be inserted nearly half-way down towards 
the base. 
