Early  Journal  Content  on  JSTOR,  Free  to  Anyone  in  the  World  
This  article  is  one  of  nearly  500,000  scholarly  works  digitized  and  made  freely  available  to  everyone  in  
the  world  by  JSTOR.    

Known  as  the  Early  Journal  Content,  this  set  of  works  include  research  articles,  news,  letters,  and  other  
writings  published  in  more  than  200  of  the  oldest  leading  academic  journals.  The  works  date  from  the  
mid-­‐seventeenth  to  the  early  twentieth  centuries.    

 We  encourage  people  to  read  and  share  the  Early  Journal  Content  openly  and  to  tell  others  that  this  
resource  exists.    People  may  post  this  content  online  or  redistribute  in  any  way  for  non-­‐commercial  
purposes.  

Read  more  about  Early  Journal  Content  at  http://about.jstor.org/participate-­‐jstor/individuals/early-­‐

journal-­‐content.    

JSTOR  is  a  digital  library  of  academic  journals,  books,  and  primary  source  objects.  JSTOR  helps  people  
discover,  use,  and  build  upon  a  wide  range  of  content  through  a  powerful  research  and  teaching  
platform,  and  preserves  this  content  for  future  generations.  JSTOR  is  part  of  ITHAKA,  a  not-­‐for-­‐profit  
organization  that  also  includes  Ithaka  S+R  and  Portico.  For  more  information  about  JSTOR,  please  
contact  support@jstor.org.  
 I9I2] CURRENT LITERATURE 263

hybridsamongthespeciesofthegenus. Fromthisstatementit is evidentthat

normalfertilization in certainspeciesof Taraxacummightbe expected.
IKENO'6 has been investigatingthis situation,and has publishedrecently
someofhis results. Two speciesof Taraxacumgrowin Tokyo,T. platycarpum
Dahlst. and T. albidum Dahlst. During igo8 and i909, TANAKA, after
RAUNKIXR'S method,made castrationexperiments with the two species and
foundthat T. albidumonly formedseeds parthenogenetically.In the spring
of I9I0, IKENOfoundgrowingin a fieldthreedifferent varietiesofT. platycarpum
which mightperhaps be elementaryspecies in the DEVRIES' sense. With
theseforms,he performed the followingexperiments.When the heads were
envelopedwithsacs, no seeds were matured; whichmeans that in this case
thereoccurredneitherself-fertilization,parthenogenesis, nor effective pollina-
tion among the flowersin the same head. A similarexperimentwas tried
withT. albidum,and the heads withand withoutsacs producedseeds. Then
he took anothervarietyof Taraxacumand put sacs aroundthe heads, which
later witheredentirely. Then he brushedthe surfaceof the heads of the
varietybeforeapplyingsacs,in orderto carrythepollenofone flowerto another
of the same head, and only5 out of 8o flowersin a head maturedperfectseeds;
but whenthe pollenof anotherhead was applied,the majorityof the flowers
maturedseeds. From theseexperiments he concludesthat in T. platycarpum
thereoccurno cases ofparthenogenesis, whilein theotherformsof Taraxacum
cases ofparthenogenesis and normalfertilizationbothoccur.-S. YAMANOUCHI.

Inflorescence and ovules of Gnetum.-Mrs. THODAY (SYKES)'7 has

investigatedthe ovulate strobilusand ovules of Gnetumafricanum,from
materialobtainedby PEARSON duringthe PercySladen MemorialExpedition
in southwestAfrica. The vascular situationpresentssome facts of unusual
interest. In thenodesoftheovulatestrobilusthreeconcentric ringsofbundles
occur,the middleone beingorientedinverselyin relationto theothertwo,and
concentricbundlesoccurringfrequently in the two outerrings. The vascular
connectionsof a singleovulate "flower"in G. africanumare said to bear "a
remarkably close resemblanceto the methodof supplyto the axillaryinflores-
cence in Bennettites."A ringof bundles entersthe base of the ovule, and
finallybreaks into threesets, which traversethe three"coverings" of the
ovule, the innermostset traversingthe innerintegumentto and sometimes
beyondits separationfromthe nucellus. A well developedpollenchamberis
presentin the youngovule, and later the apex of the nucellushardensand
formsa pointedcap.

i6 IKENO, S., Sind alle Arten der Gattung Taraxacurm

parthenogenetisch
? Ber.
Deutsch. Bot. Gesells. 28:394-397. I9II.
I THODAY (SYKES), MARY G., The female inflorescence and ovules of Gneltm
africaitum, with notes on Gnetlunscanidens. Ann. Botany 25:IIOI-II35. pis. 86, 87.
figs.i6. I9iI.
264 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH

The conclusionsare that "the radial structureof the seed, the shortfree
apical portionof the nucellus,the presenceof a pollenchamber,the extension
ofthebundlesystemintothefreeportionoftheinnerintegument, thecomplex
structureof the outerintegument, are all pointsof contrastwithWelwitschia,
and probably indicate the more primitivenature of the Gnetumovule."
Resemblancesto Bennellitesare also pointedout, and the generalimpression
is leftthat Gnetum,Welwitschia, Bennettites,and Lagenostoma, on the basis of
ovule structure,are all fromsome commonancestralstock.-J. M. C.
Annual ring and medullary rays of Quercus.-GROoMo8 has investi-
gated the evolutionof the annual ringand medullaryrays of the oak, using
numerousand widelydistributedspecies,and has reachedthe followingcon-
clusions. The verydistinctannual ringsof the deciduousspeciesbecomeless
markedin evergreenspecies, but may be recognizedby certain structural
featuresthat are enumerated,any one or more of which may be lacking.
There is an interestingcorrespondence betweenthe habit and the arrange-
ment of the large vessels in the annual ring. "Species showingthe most
strikingpore-zoneare deciduous; those showingit regularlyand distinctly,
but not havingso markeda disproportion in size betweenthe innermostand
outermostvessels,are subevergreen;whilstthose species withno trace of a
pore-zoneare trulyevergreen." In addition to these categories,there are
transitionalformswith corresponding transitionsin the pore-zonedisplay.
All specieswere foundto possess uniseriateshallowmedullaryrays,and
somepossessalso broad,highmultiseriate rays; and therearenumeroustransi-
tional stages betweenthese two kinds of rays. The authorwas not able to
decide which type was primitive,the evidence being contradictory as yet.
There are cases, as in seedlingsof Quercusand Alnus (BAILEY and EAMES), in
whichnarrowraysformbroad ones; othercases, as in Fagus (JOST),in which
broad rays divide into smallerones; and still othercases, as in seedlingsof
Fagus (TABOR), in whichboth kinds of changesgo on simultaneously in the
raysof the same annual ring.-J. M. C.
Animal parasites of Nepenthes.-An interestingcase of symbiosis,
somewhatanalogousto thepresenceof intestinalparasitesinanimals,has been
reportedby JENSEN.'9 The pitchersofNepenthes have longbeen knownto be
partiallyfilledwitha fluidcontainingenzymesin whichdead insectsseem to
be digested,but onlywiththeobservationsofthepresentauthorhas attention
been directedto the fact that several species of dipterouslarvae appear to
develop normallyin this fluid. So abundantare they that JENSEN declares
thatofthehundredsofpitchershe has examinedfromyearto yearat Tjibodas,

i8 GROOM, PERCY, The evolutionof the annual ringand medullaryraysofQuercus.

Ann. Botany 25:983-i003. pls. 74-76. i9iI.
'9 JENSEN, HJALMAR, Nepeniles-Tiere. II. Biologische Notizen. Ann. Jard.
Bot. BuitenzorgSuppI. 3. pt. 2. 941-946. i9io.