Anomalous Traces in the Cone of Equisetum 
maximum, Lam. 
BY 
ISABEL M. P. BROWNE. 
I N an account of the anatomy of the cone of Equisetum maximum , Lam., 
published in 1915, a brief comment was made on the abnormal 
behaviour of certain traces of a cone of this species (Browne, 1915, pp. 247- 
8). Since 1915 numerous facts concerning anomalies in the course and 
structure of the traces of the sporangiophores of E. maximum have come 
under my notice, and I propose to give a short account of the phenomena 
observed. 
The anomalies about to be described are of three kinds. 
In the first or A anomaly the phloem of the trace enters into connexion 
with that of the axis, and the tracheides of the trace enter the bundle but, 
failing to join on to the axial protoxylem, die out among the metaxylem 
elements. 
A second anomalous type of trace is that in which the phloem joins on 
to the phloem of the axial bundle, though the tracheides of the trace do not 
penetrate the bundle, but die out in the cortex. This kind of anomaly I pro¬ 
pose to call the B anomaly. 
The third anomaly is the most striking of those about to be considered 
and is that mentioned in my paper of 1915. A trace, passing in from 
a sporangiophore, dies out in the cortex without any of its elements joining 
on to the corresponding elements of the axial bundle. Such a trace may 
conveniently be called a free trace, or a trace showing the C anomaly. 
These three kinds of anomaly are not confined to the traces of the 
lowest whorl of the cone of E. maximum , but they are much more frequent 
in that position. Consequently, in order to obtain reliable data as to these 
anomalous traces, I have made a detailed study of the traces of the lowest 
whorl in four cones of E. maximum. Two of these cones are those already 
described in my paper of 1915 as Cones A and B; the two others have 
never been described and I propose to refer to them as Cones F and G. 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XXXVII. No. CXLVIII. October, 1923.] 
