3io 
Notes < 
daughter-plant was found to have its cells (especially those near the point of budding) 
completely filled with large starch grains (nearly twice the size of those normally 
present in the leaf-cells). Very few of the latter were, however, present in leaves 
bearing daughter-plants in late stages of development. 
Sooner or later the leaves of the parent become detached, by the decay of their 
petioles, and the new individuals become established as independent plants. 
Although the vegetative reproduction described has not been observed by the 
writer in nature, this is probably because the localities have been visited too infre¬ 
quently and at unfavourable times of the year. The accumulation of starch and the 
detachment of the budding leaves certainly seem to suggest a definite reproductive 
mechanism. 
E. J. SALISBURY. 
East London College, 
January , 1915 . 
ANATOMY OF THE MAGNOLIACEAE.— During recent years the problem 
of the origin of the Angiosperms has attracted a good deal of attention, and views, 
more or less divergent, have been expressed by Lotsy, Lignier, Benson, Hallier, 
Senn, Newell Arber and Parkin, and others. Recent theories agree in regarding the 
Dicotyledons as the more primitive, but there is a want of unanimity as to the point, 
or points, of origin of the Monocotyledons from what is presumed to be the more 
ancient stock. Many hold that the Magnoliaceae are to be regarded as the most 
primitive of the Dicotyledons, on the ground of the resemblance between their flowers 
and the anthostrobilus of such types as Bennettites. If that be the case it may 
be anticipated that the anatomy both of the seedling and of the mature plant will give 
support to the theory. Beyond a few isolated observations on some species, however, 
tending to show the general occurrence of secretory cells, wood fibres with bordered 
pits, a tendency to the formation of true vessels by scalariform perforations, and 
•a general absence of glandular hairs, there is, so far as I am aware, a lack of any 
detailed comparative investigation of the anatomy of the various genera included 
under the order. 
For some time past I have been collecting material of the Magnoliaceae 
and through the kindness of friends in various parts of the world I have been 
successful in obtaining eight out of the nine recognized genera, but as yet I have not 
been able to acquire specimens of Zygogynum . I would esteem it a favour if any one 
having access to this New Caledonian form would be so kind as to send me specimens. 
During the past winter I have investigated the adult anatomy of Drimys Winteri and 
endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to raise seedlings from seeds supplied through the 
courtesy of several correspondents. 
The literature on the subject is not very extensive, and beyond the papers 
recorded by Solereder (Syst. Anat. Dicot.), few investigations have been published on 
the subject. Strasburger, working on Drimys , draws attention to the gymnospermic 
character of the xylem coupled with the angiospermic mode of development of the 
megaspore, and Maneval has also studied the embryonic structure in Magnolia and 
Liriodendron (Bot. Gaz., vol. Ivii). Paul Parmentier (Bull. Scient. de la France et 
