The Anatomy of Saxegothaea eonspicua, Lindl. 219 
Conclusion. 
In Saxegotlicca eonspicua, then, we have a plant somewhat 
isolated from others so far as the sum of its characters is concerned. 
Its distribution is extremely local since it occurs only in the Andes 
of Chili. Plants thus characterised are generally regarded as 
ancient types and relics of a past flora. This view is supported 
in the case of Saxegothaea by the internal structure. The structure 
of all parts of the plant described are remarkable for their simplicity 
as compared with other Conifers. The simple structure of the 
wood and medullary rays of the stem, the leaf with a structure 
shared by many other Conifers in different groups, the simple 
arrangements of the sporophylls and sporangia in the male and 
female cones, can hardly be all due to reduction, and together 
suggest that this plant exhibits primitive coniferous characters. 
As regards its relations with other plants, the secondary wood 
is suggestive of the Araucarieae, the male flowers show points of 
resemblance with this order of Conifers, the pollen-grains of both 
Saxegothaea and the Araucarieae are not winged, and the female 
flowers of Saxegothaea are very like those of Araucaria on a smaller 
scale. 
On the other hand the leaf of Saxegothaea is like that of 
Podocarpus, but as Conifers from different groups shew this type of 
leaf, it is probably not such a sure indication of relationship as the 
male cone. The close resemblance between this organ in Podocarpus 
and Saxegothaea is a reason against the removal of the latter from 
the Podocarpeae to the Araucarieae. On the other hand, the pollen- 
grains are not winged as are those of Podocarpus. 
As regards the other Podocarpeae, Microcachrys resembles 
Saxegothaea in the female cone, and Dacrydium resembles it in 
shewing Araucarian features in the wood. ■ All the Podocarpeae 
have the solitary megasporangium inserted on the upper side of the 
scale in a reversed position, and there is a tendency throughout the 
order for the female scale to become fleshy after fertilisation. The 
Podocarpeae therefore, as at present constituted, appear to form a 
natural group. 
The few papers published on the Podocarpeae deal mostly with 
the male gametophyte, and all these emphasize the fact that a 
small quantity of prothallial tissue is developed. In the first of 
these papers, Coker, 1 in 1902, after working on the gametophytes of 
a species of Podocarpus, came to the conclusion that the Podocarps 
• Coker, W. C. (9), p. 89. 
