310 Brooks and Stiles .— The Structure of 
Dacrydium, Microcachrys , and Saxegothaea is another indication that the 
Podocarpeae are a natural group. 
It is impossible, with our present meagre knowledge of the inter-relation-* 
ships of the Conifers, to say whether this multicellular condition of the male 
gametophyte of Podocarpus is primitive or derived. Jeffrey and Chrysler (9) 
consider that it is not a primitive feature, but it seems to us that data for 
deciding the question are not at present available. The fact that a similar 
prothallial complex is present in Saxegothaea and Microcachrys— two 
genera which on other grounds are considered to be relatively primitive-^ 
is a point in favour of considering the prothallial complex of Podocarpus 
primitive. The fact that the divisions of the nuclei of the prothallial cells 
are karyokinetic is in keeping with the interpretation that the occurrence 
of several such cells is a normal feature for the genus. The presence of 
wings in the pollen-grains of Podocarpus does not point to any necessary 
relationship with the Abietineae, a group from which we consider the 
Podocarpeae to be considerably removed, for in the Podocarpeae the wings 
on the pollen-grains appear to have been evolved within the group . 1 
Jeffrey and Chrysler (9) consider, on the other hand, that the ground 
plan of the male gametophyte of Podocarpus is very similar to that 
of the Abietineae, but we cannot gather from their statements what 
adequate grounds they have for this conclusion. Jeffrey and Chrysler 
bring the proliferation of the prothallial cells in Araucarieae into line with 
the peculiar protosiphonogamic method of fertilization in this group 
described by Thomson (22). But this does not account for the occurrence of 
several prothallial cells in Podocarpus . 2 On examining our material it was 
seen that the pollen-grains alight in the micropyle, and so presumably the 
growth of the pollen-tubes is a normal one through the nucellus. 
( 3 ) Female Fructification. 
Of the female fructification we had material of three species, Podo - 
carpus spimdosus , P. alpinus , and a third species. We had the first in 
largest quantity, so this species will be described more fully and the others 
compared with it. 
The female fructification is borne laterally on the stem in the axil of 
a bract about six millimetres long, resembling a small foliage leaf. In 
the axil of the bract is the peduncle, about six or seven millimetres long 
and nearly a millimetre wide, and somewhat flattened in the vertical 
plane at right angles to that containing the main axis and the peduncle. 
At its upper end it bears three pairs of bracts decussately arranged 
(cf. PI. XXI, Fig. 9 ). The lowest pair are small, about one and a half milli¬ 
metres long, and are recurved and more or less leaf-like. They lie in the 
plane containing both stem and pedicel. The other two pairs of bracts* 
1 Cf. Thomson (23). 2 Cf. Burlingame (4). 
