Britton and Taylor : Life History of Schizaea pusilla 11 



chegonium. Bower (/. c, Figs. II, 12) says in his description of 

 the archegonia of Trichomanes pyxidiferutn, "The archegonia are 

 borne on massive growths (archegoniophores). * * * In one 

 case, however which has a special interest the mass of tissue on 

 which the archegonia are produced is obviously the result of par- 

 tition of a single cell of a filament, without any marked increase 

 i 1 size having taken place (Fig. 13). This may be regarded as the 

 simplest form of an archegoniophore hitherto described in any 

 fern or even in any Bryophyte and it approaches near to that sug- 

 gested by Goebel as the simplest possible, in which the sexual or- 

 gans would be inserted directly on the protonemal threads.' ' 



The act of fertilization was not seen, nor the direction of the 

 first wall, but, from later stages they appear to be formed as is 

 common with most ferns ; a wall is formed parallel with the long 

 axis of the archegonium, then a cross-wall is formed. 



Foot 



The foot is in most cases extremely large, and is in every case 

 a well-defined organ, consisting of a great mass of cells which for 

 the most part contain chlorophyl (Figs. 69, 70, 71). It remains 

 attached to the protonema for some time, having been found in 

 connection with it after the formation of the third leaf (Fig. 75, 

 a), and even here it appeared to be in a healthy condition as did 

 also that part of the protonema on which the foot was borne. It 

 grows down into the cushion of the gametophyte (some of the 

 cushion cells appear to grow up around it). The venter cells 

 grow and form a calyptra around the embryo covering it for some 

 little time ; remnants of it were found still clinging around the first 



7$>») 



Root 



The primary root is a prolongation of the main axis of the 

 sporophyte (Figs. 71, J2 y 73), while the ultimate roots are always 

 adventitious and produced in acropetai succession. They arise 

 from all sides of the erect rhizome (Fig. 79), the epidermis of which 

 sends out rhizoids. The primary root is persistent and becomes 

 quite long. The second and third roots have a vestigial struc- 

 ture which covers them as the coleorhiza of some endogens 



