Abstract
1) The behaviour of the cytoplasmic sheath of the generative cell has been investigated in the pollen tube of Crinum and Hippeastrum in the living state, occasionally with the help of either vital staining or fixation and staining.
2) The sheath contains “droplets”, which gather in a spindle-shape around the generative nucleus or each of the two sperm nuclei formed, and no stable membrane is present around the sheath.
3) In Crinum, the karyokinesis of the generative nucleus has not been immediately followed by a normal cytokinesis, but only by a “false” one.
4) Successive observations on the sperm cells in the pollen tube of Hippeastrum showed that the cytoplasmic sheath could be easily stripped from the nucleus by an external force at the point of death.
