Essentially similar to the preceding, except in the possession of an embryo _e_, which is, however, small in comparison with the endosperm which fills the spore S. The whole organization is simpler than in the fossil _Lagenostoma_, but the coat is fused to the nucellus further up (see _l_). Small “spores” form the pollen grains. Living and fossil type, Cycads and Ginkgo.] [Illustration: Fig. 58.—Seed In the ripe seed the large embryo _e_ practically fills up all the space within the two seed coats _c^1_ and _c^2_; endosperm, pollen chamber, &c., have been eliminated, and the young ovule is very simple and small as a result of the protection and active service of the carpels in which it is enclosed. Small “spores” form the pollen grains. Typical of living Dicotyledons.] These few illustrations represent only the main divisions of an army of structures with an almost unimaginable wealth of variety which must be left out of consideration. For the structures illustrated in figs. 54, 55, and 56 we have no name, for their possible existence was not conceived of when our terminology was invented, and no one has yet christened them anew with distinct names. They are evidently too complex in organization and too similar to seeds in several ways to be called spores, yet they lack the essential element in a seed, namely, an embryo. The term “ovule” (usually given to the young seed which has not yet developed an embryo) does not fit them any better, for their tissues are ripened and hard, and they were of large size and apparently fully grown and mature. For the present a name is not essential; the one thing that is important is to recognize their intermediate character and the light they throw on the possible evolution of modern seeds. A further point of great interest is the manner in which these “seeds” were borne on the plant. To-day seeds are always developed (with the exception of Cycas) in cones or flowers, or at least special inflorescences. But the “seed” of _Lagenostoma_ (fig. 56), as well as a number of others in the group it represents, were not borne on a special structure, but directly on the green foliage leaves. They were in this on a level with the simple sporangia of ferns which appear on the backs of the fronds, a fact which is of great significance both for our views on the evolution of seeds as such, and for the bearing it has on the relationships of the various groups of allied plants. This will be referred to subsequently (Chapter XI), and is mentioned now only as an example of the difference between some of the characters of early fossils and those of the present day.