Character and description of Kingia
Encyclopedia
Character and description of Kingia, a new genus of plants found on the south-west coast of New Holland, with observations on the structure of its unimpregnated ovulum, and on the female flower of Cycadeae and Coniferae is an 1826 paper by botanist Robert Brown
. Though nominally a formal description of the then-unpublished genus Kingia
, it is more notable for its digressions into ovule
anatomy and development, in which Brown sets out for the first time the modern understanding of the structure of angiosperm ovules, and publishes the first description of the fundamental difference between angiosperms and gymnosperm
s. Of the latter it has been said that "no more important discovery was ever made in the domain of comparative morphology and systematic Botany".
for many years, having collected specimens himself in 1800. However early specimens lacked good fruiting material, rendering it impossible to determine its systematics
, so no attempt was made to formally publish it. Publication was not initiated until 1823, when Allan Cunningham
approached Brown with a request that he consider naming a plant after the Kings, Philip Gidley King
and Phillip Parker King. Cunningham provided a list of potential plants, which included Kingia. The following year William Baxter
sent Brown specimens of ripe fruit, and Brown set to work describing it.
As he often did, Brown took the opportunity to include some obliquely related material that he had been working on for some time; indeed as early as 1809. Partly as a result of this, production of the paper lagged, and by 1825 there was some concern that the paper would be preempted by Cunningham's forthcoming A few general remarks on the vegetation of certain coasts of Terra Australis. However Brown's paper was eventually read to the Linnean Society in November 1825, and appeared in print the following year as a preprint. Official publication occurred in 1827, in the second volume of Phillip Parker King's Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia performed between the years 1818 and 1822.
. Then follows a detailed description of the ovule
of Kingia, which acts as a bridge to the following parts.
In the second part, Brown sets down for the first time the modern view of the anatomy
and development of the angiosperm ovule. He describes the standard arrangement in angiosperms—the nucellus joined by the chalaza
to the integuments, which surround the nucellus except at the micropyle
, through which the pollen tube
s enter. David Mabberley
describes this section as "a remarkably clear exposition of one of the most intricate and misunderstood areas of developmental anatomy in higher plants."
The third part is a discussion of the "female flower" of cycad
s and conifers. In it, Brown sets out for the first time the fundamental difference between angiosperms and gymnosperm
s; namely, that pollen
grains are drawn into the ovule in gymnosperms, whereas in angiosperms, contact is via pollen tubes. This was a profoundly important discovery: in 1890, Julius von Sachs
declared that "no more important discovery was ever made in the domain of comparative morphology and systematic Botany". That Brown was able to observe the gymnosperm ovule at all is remarkable given the difficulty of finding the same with a modern microscope.
were fully worked out, but ultimately the work laid the foundation for a great deal of work; for example Wilhelm Hofmeister
's groundbreaking work on alternation of generations
.
, and in a number of separate reprints, including one in which it was paired with Cunningham's A few general remarks on the vegetation of certain coasts of Terra Australis. A French translation appeared in Annales des Sciences Naturelles in 1827, and German translations were published three times in 1827 and 1828, in Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
's Robert Brown's Vermischte botanische Schriften, then in Linnaea, and finally in Isis. In 1866 it was reprinted in John Joseph Bennett
's The miscellaneous botanical works of Robert Brown.
Robert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
. Though nominally a formal description of the then-unpublished genus Kingia
Kingia
Kingia is a genus of the plant family Dasypogonaceae, consisting of a single species Kingia australis. It has a thick pseudo-trunk consisting of accumulated leaf-bases, with a cluster of long, slender leaves on top. The trunk is usually unbranched, but can branch if the growing tip is damaged...
, it is more notable for its digressions into ovule
Ovule
Ovule means "small egg". In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: The integument forming its outer layer, the nucellus , and the megaspore-derived female gametophyte in its center...
anatomy and development, in which Brown sets out for the first time the modern understanding of the structure of angiosperm ovules, and publishes the first description of the fundamental difference between angiosperms and gymnosperm
Gymnosperm
The gymnosperms are a group of seed-bearing plants that includes conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and Gnetales. The term "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek word gymnospermos , meaning "naked seeds", after the unenclosed condition of their seeds...
s. Of the latter it has been said that "no more important discovery was ever made in the domain of comparative morphology and systematic Botany".
Background
Brown had known of KingiaKingia
Kingia is a genus of the plant family Dasypogonaceae, consisting of a single species Kingia australis. It has a thick pseudo-trunk consisting of accumulated leaf-bases, with a cluster of long, slender leaves on top. The trunk is usually unbranched, but can branch if the growing tip is damaged...
for many years, having collected specimens himself in 1800. However early specimens lacked good fruiting material, rendering it impossible to determine its systematics
Systematics
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of terrestrial life, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees...
, so no attempt was made to formally publish it. Publication was not initiated until 1823, when Allan Cunningham
Allan Cunningham (botanist)
Allan Cunningham was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known for his travels in New South Wales to collect plants.- Early life :...
approached Brown with a request that he consider naming a plant after the Kings, Philip Gidley King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
and Phillip Parker King. Cunningham provided a list of potential plants, which included Kingia. The following year William Baxter
William Baxter (botanist)
William Baxter was an English gardener who collected in Australia on behalf of English nurserymen and private individuals. He had developed his horticultural reputation as gardener to the Comtesse de Vandes in Bayswater, London, many of the plants he had nurtured being used for illustrations in...
sent Brown specimens of ripe fruit, and Brown set to work describing it.
As he often did, Brown took the opportunity to include some obliquely related material that he had been working on for some time; indeed as early as 1809. Partly as a result of this, production of the paper lagged, and by 1825 there was some concern that the paper would be preempted by Cunningham's forthcoming A few general remarks on the vegetation of certain coasts of Terra Australis. However Brown's paper was eventually read to the Linnean Society in November 1825, and appeared in print the following year as a preprint. Official publication occurred in 1827, in the second volume of Phillip Parker King's Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia performed between the years 1818 and 1822.
Content
The paper was essentially divided into three parts. A treatment of Kingia comes first; the genus is formally described and explicitly named after the Kings, and tentatively placed in LiliaceaeLiliaceae
The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...
. Then follows a detailed description of the ovule
Ovule
Ovule means "small egg". In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: The integument forming its outer layer, the nucellus , and the megaspore-derived female gametophyte in its center...
of Kingia, which acts as a bridge to the following parts.
In the second part, Brown sets down for the first time the modern view of the anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
and development of the angiosperm ovule. He describes the standard arrangement in angiosperms—the nucellus joined by the chalaza
Chalaza
The chalaza is a structure inside bird and reptile eggs and plant ovules. It attaches or suspends the yolk or nucellus within the larger structure.-In animals:...
to the integuments, which surround the nucellus except at the micropyle
Micropyle
A micropyle is small opening in the surface of an ovule, through which the pollen tube penetrates, often visible as a small pore in the ripe seed....
, through which the pollen tube
Pollen tube
The pollen tubes is the male gametophyte of seed plants that acts as a conduit to transport the male sperm cells from the pollen grain, either from the stigma to the ovules at the base of the pistil, or directly through ovule tissue in some gymnosperms .After pollination, the pollen tube...
s enter. David Mabberley
David Mabberley
Professor Dr. David John Mabberley, , is a botanist, educator and writer. Among his varied interests is the taxonomy of tropical plants, especially trees of the families Labiatae, Meliaceae and Rutaceae. He is perhaps best known for his plant dictionary The plant-book. A portable dictionary of the...
describes this section as "a remarkably clear exposition of one of the most intricate and misunderstood areas of developmental anatomy in higher plants."
The third part is a discussion of the "female flower" of cycad
Cycad
Cycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
s and conifers. In it, Brown sets out for the first time the fundamental difference between angiosperms and gymnosperm
Gymnosperm
The gymnosperms are a group of seed-bearing plants that includes conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and Gnetales. The term "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek word gymnospermos , meaning "naked seeds", after the unenclosed condition of their seeds...
s; namely, that pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
grains are drawn into the ovule in gymnosperms, whereas in angiosperms, contact is via pollen tubes. This was a profoundly important discovery: in 1890, Julius von Sachs
Julius von Sachs
Julius von Sachs was a German botanist from Breslau, Prussian Silesia.At an early age he showed a taste for natural history, becoming acquainted with the Breslau physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkyně. In 1851 he began studying at Charles University in Prague...
declared that "no more important discovery was ever made in the domain of comparative morphology and systematic Botany". That Brown was able to observe the gymnosperm ovule at all is remarkable given the difficulty of finding the same with a modern microscope.
Legacy
Despite the importance of Brown's paper, it received very little attention at first; for example reviewers of King's book took little notice of it. The longer term impact, however, was immense. It would take some time before the homologiesHomology (biology)
Homology forms the basis of organization for comparative biology. In 1843, Richard Owen defined homology as "the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function". Organs as different as a bat's wing, a seal's flipper, a cat's paw and a human hand have a common underlying...
were fully worked out, but ultimately the work laid the foundation for a great deal of work; for example Wilhelm Hofmeister
Wilhelm Hofmeister
Wilhelm Friedrich Benedikt Hofmeister was a German biologist and botanist. He "stands as one of the true giants in the history of biology and belongs in the same pantheon as Darwin and Mendel." He was largely self-taught....
's groundbreaking work on alternation of generations
Alternation of generations
Alternation of generations is a term primarily used in describing the life cycle of plants . A multicellular sporophyte, which is diploid with 2N paired chromosomes , alternates with a multicellular gametophyte, which is haploid with N unpaired chromosomes...
.
Publication details
Character and description of Kingia was first published in 1826 as a preprint. It appeared the following year as an appendix to Volume 2 of Phillip Parker King's Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia. It was subsequently republished in Volume 67 of the Philosophical MagazinePhilosophical Magazine
The Philosophical Magazine is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. Initiated by Alexander Tilloch in 1798, in 1822 Richard Taylor became joint editor and it has been published continuously by Taylor & Francis ever since; it was the journal of choice for such luminaries as...
, and in a number of separate reprints, including one in which it was paired with Cunningham's A few general remarks on the vegetation of certain coasts of Terra Australis. A French translation appeared in Annales des Sciences Naturelles in 1827, and German translations were published three times in 1827 and 1828, in Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He described approximately 7,000 plant species...
's Robert Brown's Vermischte botanische Schriften, then in Linnaea, and finally in Isis. In 1866 it was reprinted in John Joseph Bennett
John Joseph Bennett
John Joseph Bennett was a British botanist.Bennett was assistant keeper of the Banksian herbarium and library at the British Museum from 1827 to 1858, when he succeeded Robert Brown as Keeper of the Botanical Department. He retired in 1870. He was secretary of the Linnean Society of London from...
's The miscellaneous botanical works of Robert Brown.