102 



Ohio Naturalist. 



[Vol. l,No. & 



MOSSES; ILLUSTRATIVE SAMPLES. 

 W. A. Kellerman. 



[This article was prepared as a suggestion for the Ohio Schools, and 

 is issued simultaneously as No. 17 of the University Bulletin (Series- 

 5. ) A wide distribution is advisable and it seems desirable to issue it 

 here also. Ohio teachers, pupils and amateurs will, it is hoped, become- 

 more interested in our bryological flora. ] 



The samiDles on the accompanying attached sheet are intended to- 

 illustrate the kind of material to be collected, and the method of label- 

 ling and mounting the specimens, for the Herbarium. It will be noticed 

 that most of the specimens are in "fruit," which is the popular name 

 for the "capsule" that terminates the "se-ta," or slender stem. A 

 delicate cap called the " ca-lyp-tra," may usually be seen, completely- 

 or partially covering the capsule before it is fully mature. The terminal 

 portion of the capsule, called lid or " o-per-cu-lum," often drops off when 

 maturity is reached; in this manner the "spores" or microscopical, 



non-sexual reproductive bodies produced 

 within, are allowed to escape. The mouth 

 or opening of the spore case (capsule) is 

 surrounded by a row of slender teeth, called 

 collectively the "per-i-&tome;" this may 

 be clearly seen with the aid of a lens after- 

 the ripe operculum is removed. The ac- 

 companying diagrammatic figures illus- 

 trate the parts just mentioned. 



The life history, or cycle of development, 

 of our common Mosses may be briefly 

 sketched as follows: When the spores 

 germinate a slender branching tube, or 

 alga-like filament, appears which has been 

 designated the "pro-to-ne-ma." This con~ 

 tains chlorophyll; it grows in moist pro- 

 tected places, and here and there develops 



. / 1, iji 'i. 



Fig. L 



anchor it to the soil 



root-like threads, called " rhi-zoids," which 

 " Gem-mae " or buds also appear on tlie proto- 

 nema and these develop into the upright clustered stems that bear the 

 leaf-like structures. At the apex of tlie "ac-ro-car-pous " mosses, and 

 from the sides in " pleu-ro-car-pous " species, there are formed the 

 organs for sexual reproduction, namely, " an-ther-id-i-a " and "arch- 

 e-go-ni-a;" these are surrounded by a cluster of leaf-like bracts, called, 



Fig. 1. — A common Moss (M) bearing triiit is and ii>/>.) ; one capsule is old, one fresh, one 

 immature arid covered by the calyptra (cd/.) ; the teeth ^i) of the peristome (/), and a leal (/)> 

 magnified, are also shown. 



