MORPHOLOGY OF SPERMATOPHYTES
page: [ii][View Page [ii]]OTHER BOTANICAL WORKS
BY DR. JOHN M. COULTER.
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D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
NEW YORK.
MORPHOLOGY OF SPERMATOPHYTES
BYJOHN M. COULTER, PH. D.
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
AND
CHARLES J. CHAMBERLAIN, PH. D.
INSTRUCTOR IN BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1901
COPYRIGHT, 1901,
BY D. APPLETON
AND COMPANY.
PREFACE
THIS book has grown out of a course of lectures, accompanied by laboratory work, given for several successive years. The course presupposes at least a year of work in general morphology, and is intended to prepare the student for research in the morphology of Seed-plants. As a consequence, the book brings together and organizes the very voluminous and scattered literature of the subject, points out and discusses the problems, seeks to unify a very confusing terminology, and at the same time contributes no small amount of original observation and illustration.
In developing the subject it has been thought best to present first the facts connected with the different groups, organizing these facts in as systematic and definite a way as possible, so that the condition of knowledge in reference to any feature may stand out clearly. Following the presentation of the separate great groups, their comparative morphology, history, and phylogeny are discussed.
At the end of each chapter which discusses a great group, a list of the works cited is given. This bibliography is not intended to be exhaustive, but to include those works which contain definite contributions of fact or of opinion. At the close of the volume there will be found a fairly complete bibliography of the important papers.
While in the very nature of things the great body of material in a book of this kind must be derived from the work of numerous observers, yet most of the ground has been traversed page: vi[View Page vi] several times by the authors and their students, certain gaps have been filled up, and an original point of view has been established. So far as possible, the illustrations are original, and some of the series are more complete than any heretofore published; but illustrations have been reproduced whenever they seem necessary to a full understanding of the subject. Those which have been copied are fully credited, and may thus be distinguished from those which are published for the first time in this book. References to figures in the text have not been multiplied, upon the assumption that those who use the book are in the habit of consulting figures.
One of the chief perplexities in connection with the literature of the subject is the confusing and often misleading terminology employed by various authors. Not only have different names been applied to a single morphological structure, but frequently the same name has been used for very different structures. This has resulted not only in a confusion of terms, but in greatly obscuring a very simple and consistent morphology. We have attempted to introduce uniformity into the terminology, not by proposing new names, but by selecting from those already current the ones which seem the most appropriate. It is to be hoped that this will aid to a better understanding of morphological equivalents.
It may be well to call attention to the fact that we close the history of the sporophyte with the appearance of the spore mother cell, rather than with the appearance of the spore. This has seemed to us to be the best defined line of demarcation between the two generations, both on account of the reduction division, and because preceding this division the mother cell passes into a more or less prolonged resting condition. It certainly represents the greatest break in the continuity of the life history. In this sense, therefore, the sporophyte ends with the appearance of the spore mother cell, and later the gametophyte begins with the reduction division.
page: vii[View Page vii]No attempt has been made to present the anatomy of Seed-plants. This subject is too vast, and too far removed from our general purpose to be included. The few anatomical details which have been given are simply those which have to do with the general structure of organs, and which are essential to any morphological discussion.
The authors appreciate the fact that, in a certain sense, a book of this nature is out of date as soon as it has left the press, especially as it deals with groups which are being investigated at the present time with remarkable activity. Doubtless, within a few months papers will appear which would have been of great service; but in so large a group this is likely to remain always true, and the authors have felt that a concise summary of knowledge at any stage of progress is useful in stimulating and guiding further research.
JOHN M. COULTER.
CHARLES J. CHAMBERLAIN.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO,
January, 1901.
CONTENTS
PART I.—GYMNOSPERMS
- I.—CYCADALES 1
- II.—GINKGOALES 35
- III.—CONIFERALES 51
- page: x[View Page x]
- IV.—GNETALES 112
- V.—FOSSIL GYMNOSPERMS 134
- VI.—COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF GYMNOSPERMS 153
- VII.—THE PHYLOGENY OF GYMNOSPERMS 168
- VIII.—GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF GYMNOSPERMS 175
- SUMMARY OF LITERATURE CITED 180
- APPENDIX 185
