220 
W. Stiles. 
are most nearly related to the Abietineae. Next, in 1907, Jeffrey 
and Chrysler 1 concluded that the Podocarps and Araucarians came 
from an ancestral stock closely allied to the Abietineae. A little 
later in the same year, Miss Young 2 stated that “ the rarity of any 
prothallial cells at all in Conifers, sets apart the Abietineae, 
Podocarpineae, and Araucarineae, as the possible representatives of 
a more primitive condition. A possible connection between the 
three groups is suggested. The question of relationships, however, 
can be answered only through the combined results of various lines of 
research.” Lastly Burlingame 3 apparently regards the Podocarpineae 
and Abietineae as derived from a common ancestral stock, and does 
not believe that the Podocarpineae have come directly from the 
Abietineae. 
All these writers agree in the resemblance between the gameto- 
phytes of the Podocarpeae and Abietineae, but in the sporophyte of 
Saxegothaea, a member of the Podocarpeae, it is hard to find a single 
character in which there is a greater resemblance to the Abietineae, 
than to other Conifers. On the other hand the resemblance to the 
Araucarieae is striking, a resemblance in which the gametophytes of 
Podocarpus and Dacrydium share. Unfortunately the state of the 
material at my disposal did not permit of an examination of the 
gametophytes, but the anatomy of the sporophyte would seem to 
indicate that Saxegothaea is an old type shewing relationships on 
the one hand with the Araucarieae, and on the other with the 
Podocarpeae. While we must wait for fuller knowledge before 
making any very definite statement, it would appear that these two 
orders of Coniferales are descended from some common ancestor 
with its micro- and megasporophylls both arranged spirally in cones. 
Along one line of descent we find the Araucarieae, along the other is 
Saxegothaea leading on to Microcachrys and the other Podocarpeae, 
and this view agrees well with the opinion of many botanists that 
the Araucarieae are among the oldest, if not quite the oldest, Conifers. 
Thus it would seem probable, as Lindley said in his first description 
of the plant, that Saxegothaea is a transition of a remarkable kind 
between the Pinaceae and Taxaceae. 
This investigation was undertaken at the suggestion of Professor 
Seward, whom I here wish to thank for advice during the work. I 
would also express my thanks to Mrs. Seward for the drawing 
of the female cone (Fig. 3). 
1 Jeffrey, E. C. and Chrysler, M. A. (16), p. 355. 
2 Young, Miss M. (32), p. 189. 
3 Burlingame, L. L. (7), p. 161. 
