204 
EEVIEWS. 
the flower-stalks arise, and below into the mass of the stock and 
root. The course of these we cannot here follow ; we shall have 
occasion to recur to them and to the histology of their tissues. The 
crown just referred to, is pitted with the scars of fallen peduncles 
scattered along rudely concentric ridges. Each ridge clearly cor¬ 
responds to a period of growth, and they are thrown off, the older 
successively nearer the centre, from the leaf-bases, which constitute 
the peripherical growing zone of the stock. The inflorescence may be 
said to originate in the axils of the leaves; though some curious 
considerations suggest themselves in connection with its origin, 
for we find the peduncles scattered along the outermost ridge 
at irregular intervals, originating apparently at different times. 
Are the flowering branches adventitious ? Or is there good ground 
for entertaining the suggestion Dr. Hooker throws out, that 
possibly each vascular cord of the leaf may represent an inde¬ 
pendent organ, and that the leaf may be in reality made up of a 
multitude of leaves laterally coalesced into one broad ribbon ? In 
the latter case the numerous peduncles might each be subtended 
by their own leaf-representative. Erom the mode in which the buds 
of the inflorescence originate, and from the circumstance Dr. Hooker 
calls attention to, of their occasionally springing from the side of the 
stock under the leaf-insertion, we think it not improbable that they 
are, at least in a limited sense, adventitious. 
The inflorescence consists of short forking branches bearing nu¬ 
merous cones of closely imbricating decussate scales, in the axils of 
which scales the compressed flowers are borne. And in the struc¬ 
ture of these flowers we find, perhaps, yet greater source of wonder¬ 
ment. There are two kinds of cones,—one kind with a female flower ‘ 
in the axil of the scales, the other with flowers structurally bi-sexual, 
but functionally male. The latter are the smaller. It is probable 
the plants may turn out to be dioicous, bearing only one kind of 
cone, $ or $ ; but this is not yet certainly known. The female flower 
in all essentials resembles that of the old genera Ephedra and Gnetum ; 
the male, or quasi-hermaphrodite, is something quite unique. It 
consists of a perianth, like that of the male of Ephedra , which 
encloses six stamens, united by their filaments into a short tube. 
The anthers burst by a tricrural slit. In the centre of the flower, 
immediately within the staminal tube, rises apparently a pistil, 
terminated by a slender curved style and discoid stigma. The 
question arises, Is this a pistil or a naked ovule? To this ques¬ 
tion we shall return. Meantime cutting open the pistiliform body 
we find it encloses the conical nucleus of the ovule. This has no 
embryo-sac, and it is never impregnated. 
W e find, then, the chief anomalies of Welwitschia to consist in : 
—1. The form of the trunk, resulting from the non-development of 
a vegetative axis in the plant after germination; 2. The persist¬ 
ence of the seed-leaves; 3. The central organ of the staminate flower, 
representing the gynoecium of hermaphroditesj and 4. The internal 
