3 
E antes . — The Morphology of A gat his australis. 
mature and fall about the first of the following March. Thus here, as in 
many other Conifers, a long period intervenes between the appearance of 
the ovulate strobilus and the ripening of the seed. A year is required to 
develop the cone from its appearance to pollination ; about thirteen months 
pass between pollination and fertilization ; and four more are taken to com- 
plete the growth. The history of the male cone is, as with other Conifers, 
apparently much shorter, less than a year, since no evidence of young 
strobili is found at this time. 
The female cone is made up of close spirals of scales, each bearing 
a single median ovule. These scales are broad, thin-winged proximally, 
with stout, short, up-turned tip. They have the simple appearance well 
known in the genus Agathis, and there is no external evidence of a double 
nature such as appears in most Conifers. 
In strobili just appearing from the bud ovular growth has not yet 
begun. The ovule is first recognizable, according to Dickson ( 1 ), who in- 
vestigated young cones from greenhouse plants as early as 1 863, as a small 
swelling at the base of the scale. At pollination well-marked projections 
of the general form of ovules are developed. But at this time there is no 
differentiation either of integument or of archesporial tissue. This con- 
dition is in contrast to that commonly found in Gymnosperms where there 
is at least sufficient differentiation to form a micropyle to receive the pollen. 
And this suggests a cause for the germination of the pollen at other points. 
Progress in development must be rapid from this time on, since in February 
the integument is set off, and the embryo-sac has enlarged considerably. 
Fig. 5 presents this stage. The nucellus is well formed. Embedded in 
‘ spongy tissue ’ in its centre lies the embryo-sac, still in the free nuclear 
stage, the nuclei arranged in the customary parietal layer. The nucellus 
is free from the integument, and each is bounded by an epidermis-like layer 
of cells. 
Ovules just previous to fertilization were the next stage available. At 
this time they resemble somewhat in form and size the ripe seed. The 
character of the micropyle varies much, especially among ovules from 
different cones. The surface of the nucellus is exposed above and below 
by large V-shaped openings in the integument, the ventral being consider- 
ably the larger in most cases. Huge micropyles were found occasionally 
where the opening reached down half the extent of the embryo-sac. This 
condition is probably correlated in some way with the peculiar basal 
margins of the cone scale, where auricles leave small sinuses in the wing. 
One of these openings lies directly over the ovule of the scale below. This 
arrangement may be concerned with the peculiar germination of the 
pollen-grain. 
The nucellus is clearly set off from the surrounding tissue. The 
separation extends far down, always to the base of the gametophyte, and 
