Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/460

* GYMNONOTI. 410 GYMNOSPERMS. garded as being between the true eels and the eel-like siluroids (Clariidir). GYMNOPiEDES, jiiu'iiO-pO'dez. See under Pluiiiaiji-. in llio artiele KiKU. GYM'NOPHI'ONA (Xeo-Lat. nom. pi., from Gk. •fvji.iibs, gi/iiiiius, naked + 6<p'!, ophis, ser- pent). An order of small snake-like amphib- ians, with no traee of limbs or tail. The body is vermiform, the skin hardened to form scales, the eyes nidimentary, and the membranous skull complete and substantial. They are tropical bur- rowers, and number about 42 species, principally of the family Crcciliidie. See Blindworm. GYMNOS'OPHISTS (Lflt. gymnosopMstw, from Gk. yv^vo<70(piaT^s, gi/innosophistc.s, naked sage, from yv/j.i'ds, r/yiiiiios, naked + o-o^io-ti)!, sophistcs, sage, from (roipds, suplios, wise). The name given by the Greeks lo those ancient Hindu philosophers, or religious devotees, who wore little or no clothing, and dedicated themselves to mystical contemplation and the practice of the most rigorous asceticism. They often adopted a solitary life in the forest, for which reason the Greeks termed them also Hglobioi, answering to ySiw-prasthas of the Sanskrit literature. ■ They correspond to the yogis, fakirs, or "holy men" of India to-day. According to Strabo there were two classes of these, the Brahmans and the Sa- inana>ans. The former adhered strictly to the rules of caste distinction : the latter did not. Calamis (q.v. ). who allowed himself to be burned alive, was a type of these naked philosophers. GYMNOSPERMS, jim'no-spermz (from Gk. •yv/ii'fir, gyiniios, naked + a-ipfui, sperma, seed). A name applied to one of the two groups of seed- plants (spermatophytes) . the members of which, as the name implies, bear naked seeds. The mem- bers of the other group, angiosperms (q.v. ), bear seeds 'in a case.' The most familiar gymun- .sperms are pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, etc., the forms commonly called "evergreens.' The group is an ancient one: its representatives were abun- dant in the forest vegetation of the coal measures, but to-day only about 400 species exist as a rem- nant of a former much larger display. The gym- nosperms are divided into four distinct living groups, and at least two extinct groups are known. The Conifers. The conifers form the most conspicuous modern group. They are character- istic of the temperate regions, and comprise the commonly known evergreens. Some forms are widely distributed, as the pines, which still form extensive forests. Others are now very much re- stricted, although they were once widely dis- tributed, as tile gigantic redwood (Sequoia) of the Pacific slopes. See Coxifer.e. The Cycaos. The cycads, tropical fern-like forms, with large compound leaves, rank second in importance to the conifers. The stem is either a columnar shaft, crowned with a rosette of green leaves which give a palm-like habit, or it is like a great tuber crowned with leaves. In ancient times cycads were very abundant, but now they are represented by only about eighty forms, scattered through both the eastern and western tropics. See C'ycad.vce-E. The Gnetims, some of which arc of remarkable form, compose the third living group. There are but three genera, very distinct in ap)iearance and in range. The genus Ephedra, which includes about thirty species, occurs in the dry regions of both hemispheres. In the arid region of the Southwestern United States characteristic species of Ephedra are low straggling bushes with long- jointed, lluted green stems, and opposite scale-like leaves. A second genus. Tuniboa, better known as Welwitsehia. contains onlj^ a single species, which occurs in certain extremely dry regions of West and South Africa. The body of these remarkable jilants is shaped like a gigantic radish, whieh rises well above the surface of the ground, and whose circumference is sometimes over 12 feet at the crown, from the edge of which two enormous- ly large leaves are produced. These extend u])on the ground sometimes from 10 to 12 feet, and become weathered into ribbons. The third genus, Gnetum, contains fifteen species of trees or vines, and occurs in the tropics of both hemispheres, where some of the climbers are prominent. The Ginkgo. The fourth great group of living gymnosperms contains at present but a single form, the Ginkgo, a remarkable tree almost un- known in the wild state, but recently reported in certain forests of Western China. Its extensive cultivation, however, in connection with temple worship in China and .Japan has preserved it, and has introduced it as a well-known park tree in all civilized countries. The leaves so much resemble those of the maidenhair fern that they suggest the common name 'maidenhair tree.' The fruit is plum-like. See Ginkgo. It is tliouglit that a^'mnospcrms have lieen de- . rived from the ferns, from which they dilTer most strikingly in their production of seeds. Among the numerous other characters which separate the gymnosperms from the angiosperms. it may be mentioned that the female generation (gameto- pliyte) developed within the ovule (see Alter- nation OF Ge.xer.^tions) bears such female or- gans as are found in the ferns and the mosses (archegonia) : in angiosperms no such organs are found. Again, in gymnosperms the body of the stem is chielly composed of the peculiar form of vessels called tracheid (q.v.), which differ from the true vessels of angiosperms in not form- ing somewhat continuous passageways. These traeheids are formed so regularly that the wood is remarkably uniform and of even grain, a fea- ture characteristic of the lumber obtained from pines and their allies. The fruits of gymno- sperms are diverse, and from the fact that the seeds are not inclosed they are difl'erent in char- acter from those of angiosperms. The best-known form of fruit is the prominent cone that gives name to the group Conifene, These cones en- large very much during the formation of the seeds, and consist of an a.is bearing numerous bract-like members to the upper surface of which the seeds are attached. In the case of the cy- cads and ginkgo, the seed itself ripens and re- sembles a fleshy stone fruit, such as a plum or cherry. To botanists g;'mnospcrms are of chief interest because of their relations to the ferns and to the angiosperms. The largest problems in connection with the group have to do with the details of their origin from the ferns, and with the more obscure question as to whether they in turn may have given rise to the angiosperms. In addition to the books cited under Morphol- ogy, all of which treat more or less fully of this group, consult Coulter and Chamberlain, ^for- phnlofig of Hprrmdlophglen. part i. (New York, inoil. For works on classification, see under Taxo.xomy'. See Di.strii'.ition of Plants.