62 
Sinnott .- — The Morphology of the 
divides anticlinally, but the mature neck is never more than one tier in 
thickness. The central cell, which elongates greatly and becomes filled 
with thin, vacuolate contents, is surrounded by a single row of uninucleate 
jacket cells. Its cytoplasm gradually grows more dense and displays at 
least one 4 asteroid ’, which is associated with the nucleus in the upper portion 
of the archegonium (Fig. 48). A large basal vacuole also develops. The 
nucleus of the central cell, while still just below the neck, divides into 
ventral canal and egg nuclei. The former eventually goes to pieces, but the 
latter drops a little way into the cytoplasm and increases greatly in size, 
until it almost fills the top of the archegonium. 
The male nuclei resemble those of Podocarpus , one being naked and the 
other surrounded by a mass of cytoplasm. Fertilization was not observed, 
but the development of the proembryo was followed and agrees with that 
described for Eupodocarpus. The young embryo, however, as it is carried 
down by the suspensors invariably buds or divides, and single suspensors 
often develop embryos (Fig. 49). 
There are two archegonia in the embryo-sac of D. Bidwillii, and they are 
somewhat sunken in the endosperm (PI. V, Fig. 3). Each is surrounded by 
one layer of jacket cells and has a neck but a single tier of cells in thickness. 
The egg nucleus is very large. Fertilization and the development of the 
proembryo were not observed, but the young embryos present in almost all 
the ovules examined much resemble those of D. cupressinum , and show 
a similar tendency to become subdivided. 
Dacrydium resembles Eupodocarpus and D aery carpus in the develop- 
ment of the proembryo, and Stachycarpus in the small number of archegonia, 
the single tier of neck-cells, the large egg nucleus, and, in most species, the 
length of the reproductive cycle. 
Our knowledge of the female gametophyte and embryo of Phyllocladus 
is due to the investigations of Miss Kildahl (6) and Miss Young (21) on 
P. alpinus } The reproductive cycle in the genus extends through only 
a few months. Spongy tissue is conspicuous and there is a strong megaspore 
membrane. The archegonia are usually two in number, and are sunken in 
the endosperm. The neck is a rosette only one tier of cells in thickness. 
A ventral canal nucleus is present. There are at least eight nuclei in the 
proembryo before wall formation and the mature embryo is dicotyledonous. 
The endosperm cells are all multinucleate. 
The structure of the female gametophyte and embryo of Phyllocladus , 
as far as it is known, agrees more closely with that of Dacrydium , especially 
in the reduced number of archegonia and the structure of the neck, than 
with that of any other member of the family. 
1 The writer was able to collect material in New Zealand illustrating the female gametophyte 
of P. glaucus, P. trichomanoides, and P. alpinus . The results of an investigation of these three 
species will be published in the near future. 
