Reproductive Structures in the Podoca 7 pineae 41 
of the results as deal with the morphology of the reproductive organs 
are embodied in the present paper, which has for its object a description 
of the anatomical features of the staminate and ovulate strobili and 
a history of the development of the male and female gametophytes and of 
the embryo, together with a discussion, in the light of the facts set forth, 
of the relationships between the various genera and of the affinities of the 
family as a whole to the other great groups of the Coniferales. 
The Staminate Strobilus. 
The male cone of the Podocarpineae exhibits no great diversity of 
structure and conforms to the general coniferous type. The axis contains 
a cylinder of small vascular bundles, outside which is a ring of cortical 
canals. The single bundle departing to each microsporophyll leaves 
behind it a gap in the cylinder. The sporophylls are always bisporangiate, 
thus agreeing precisely with those found among the Abietineae, and 
differing strongly from the peltate multisporangiate sporophylls of the 
Araucarineae. 
The Ovulate Strobilus. 
The female strobilus of the Podocarpineae is distinguished from that 
of all other Conifers save the Taxineae by the exhibition of two well-marked 
tendencies — towards a reduction in the number of sporophylls, and towards 
a fleshy condition of a part or the whole of the cone at maturity. In 
Podocarpus and Dacrydium , reduction has resulted in most cases in an 
abbreviation of the axis to a short, thickened stalk, bearing a few sterile, 
scale-like bracts at its base and one or two ovuliferous appendages above ; 
but in Saxegothea , Microcachrys , Pherosphaera , and Phyllocladus the fertile 
scales are usually more numerous, and are arranged in more typical cones. 
In all the family, the bract or scale subtends but a single ovule, which is 
inverted in Podocarpus and certain species of Dacrydium , but is nearly or 
quite erect at maturity in the other genera. Outside the ovule, in addition 
to the usual single integument, there is an ‘ outer integument ’, ‘ arillus * or 
‘ epimatium ’, which may entirely envelop the seed or be reduced to a small 
basal sheath. The origin and significance of this epimatium, and the 
morphological nature of the strobilar appendage on which it is borne, are 
disputed questions and have an important bearing on our theories as to the 
relationships of the family. 
The genus Podocarpus , by far the largest and most widely distributed 
of the Podocarpineae, shows much diversity of structure in its various 
species, and is separated into four main sub-genera on the character of the 
washed in water or 50 % alcohol, respectively, and run up slowly into 70 % alcohol for preservation. 
The ordinary precautions used where careful fixation is desired were observed, such as killing the 
material directly in the field and slicing off the sides of the ovules with a razor, or stout knife in the 
case of species with a stony integument, to ensure rapid penetration. 
