Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Companion Cells en Bast de
Companion Cells en Bast de
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.
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.
COMPANION CELLS IN BAST OF GNETUM AND
ANGIOSPERMS
W. P. THOMPSON
4.~~~~
re~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~g
~
~~~~~~A1
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "
ie.~~~~~~~~.
41 ~ ~ JZ 4&
FIG. 4 FIG. 5
FIG. 6 FIG. 7
Discussion
The presencein the bast of Gnetum of companioncells which
are in most respectsof the angiospermic type is at firstsight
anotherstrikingindicationof real relationship betweenGnetum
and angiosperms.They are to be comparedwith the vessels
of thewood,broadrays,generalhabit,style(4), absenceof arche-
gonia,free-nucleate embryosac, endospermformation(4), and
otherreproductive characters. In regardto all of these points
Gnetum is angiospermic.
The studyofthedevelopment ofthecompanioncells,however,
showsthat the resemblance does not necessarily indicategenetic
relationship.Whereasthe companioncells of angiospermsare
formedfromthesamerowof cambialcellsas are the sievetubes,
and each one is contiguousto a sievetubein sucha row,thoseof
Gnetum are formedin rows quite separatefromthe sieve tubes
and are the productsof different cambial cells. Of course,it is
possiblethatthe companioncellsof Gnetum are reallygenetically
relatedto those of angiosperms, and that, afteroriginating in
Gnetum in the method described, theirformation has later been
takenoverin angiosperms bythesamecambialcellsthatformsieve
tubes. On theotherhand,it seemsmorelogicalto concludethat
we are dealingwitha case of parallelevolution,just as I have
shownto be truewithregardto thevesselsofthewood (5). The
vesselof Gnetumwitha singlelargeperforation in the end wall
is almostidenticalwiththatofmanyangiosperms.Nevertheless,
it has been evolvedin an entirely way. The perforation
different
of the angiospermic porousvesselhas resultedfromthe breaking
down and disappearanceof scalariform bars, whereasthat of
Gnetumhas resultedfromthe enlargement of typical,circular,
haphazardlyarranged,borderedpits accompaniedby the dis-
appearanceof the middlelatnellae,the enlargement proceeding
until the intervening portionsof the vessel wall have vanished.
In thecase of thecompanioncellwe seemto have a closeparallel
to thatofthevessel. Whilethe completedstructure is similarto
thatofangiosperms, thecourseofitsdevelopment is quitedifferent.
If two such strikingpointsof resemblanceas vesselsin the
wood and companioncellsin the bast are reallyresultsof inde-
,9i9] THOMPSON-COMPANION CELLS 459
Summary
i. Companion cellsresemblingthoseof angiospermsin size,in
theirassociationwithsieve tubes,in theirusual locationin the
angles of the sieve tubes,and in theirverticalelongation,are
presentin thebast ofsomespeciesofGnetum.
2. The development of these companioncells, however,is
quite differentfromthatfoundin angiosperms.Whereas,in the
latter,each sievetubeand its companioncellare derivedfromtwo
successivecells in a singlerow of cambialproducts,in Gnetum
sieve tubesand companioncellsare producedfromdifferent rows
ofcambialcells.
3. Althoughthe completedformsof companioncell in the
two groupsare similar,theyhave probablybeen independently
evolved.
4. Primitiveconditionsin whichcompanioncells are lacking,
or in whichcontinuousrowsof companioncells are present,are
foundin certainregionsofsomespecies.
5. The parenchymaof the wood is formedby thosecambial
cells whichformcompanioncells; the distribution of the wood
parenchymais consequentlyin radial bands, which frequently
becomeinterrupted by theexpansionofvesselsand fibers.
UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
SASKATOON,SASK.
LITERATURE CITED
i. DEBARY, A., Comparativeanatomyof Phanerogamsand Ferns. Oxford
UniversityPress. i884.
2. STRASBURGER,NOLL, SCHENK, and KARSTEN, Textbook of Botany.
Macmillan. I9I2.
3. THOMPSON, W. P., The anatomyand relationshipsof the Gnetales. I.
The genusEphedra. Ann.Botany 27:I077-II02. I912.
4. , The morphologyand affinitiesof Gnetum. Amer. Jour. Bot.
4:I35-i84. i9i6.
5. - . Independentevolutionof vessels in Gnetales and Angiosperms.
BOT. GAZ. 65:83-90. I9I8.