282 Lang.—Development of Cycadean Sporangia. 
This will enable the development of certain parts of the 
Cycadean ovule, a detailed account of which is wanting, to be 
dealt with, and will afford a basis for the briefer description 
and general comparison of the other genera of recent Cycads, 
in a future number of these studies. The full consideration 
of the morphology of the Cycadean ovule must be deferred 
until further materials for this comparison have been accu¬ 
mulated, and the present paper will be restricted to a description 
of the phenomena observed in Stangeria , together with an 
estimate of the problem as illustrated by this genus. 
The female sporophyll of Stangeria resembles the male 
sporophyll in general form. Two ovules are borne on each 
scale ; they are situated one on either side of the short stalk, 
and their micropyles point towards the axis of the cone and 
slightly towards one another. The ovules are clearly not 
marginal, but each is situated slightly within the margin of 
a small area apparently corresponding to one of the soriferous 
areas of the lower surface of a male sporophyll. This will 
be evident on comparing Figs. 1 and 17, which represent 
sporophylls from the youngest and oldest cones investigated, 
with Fig. 1 of the first number of these studies 1 , representing 
the distribution of the sori on the young male sporophyll. 
The intra-marginal position of the ovule in this genus has 
been verified by the study of sections. 
It was found to be impossible to obtain cones young enough 
to show the first stages of development of the ovule, without 
risk of injury to the plant. A median longitudinal section of 
one of the youngest ovules obtained is represented, from a 
photograph, in Fig. 2. Ovules at this stage of development 
are borne upon cones just visible among the bud-scales at 
the apex of the plant. As the figure shows, the rudiments 
of the free projecting portions of nucellus and integument are 
just recognizable. At this stage the ovule is only slightly 
constricted at its region of insertion on the sporophyll. In 
the median region of this stalk the cells are arranged in short 
1 Annals of Botany, vol. xi, p. 421, PL XXII. 
