176 



this should prove to be a constant character of B. ohliquum, it 

 would be a very great departure from the condition found in all 

 other members of the family. As Mettenius correctl}^ pointed 

 out, the definitive sporopliyte arises as an adventitious bud 

 from the primary root, either close to the leaf base, or more 

 commonly at some distance from it (Fig. 145). In one case 

 observed by the writer two independent sporophytes were 

 found growing from the same prothallium, (Fig. 28) but this 

 is unusual, and most of the cases where two sporophytes ap- 

 pear to be present one of these can be shown to be the 

 secondary sporophyte attached to the primary root of the first 

 formed one. 



While in O. vidgdtum the sporophyte vegetates under ground 

 for several years, in 0. moluccanum there is every reason to 

 believe that there is only a brief interval between the first 

 formation of the leaf and its appearance above ground. The 

 small size and the character of the gametophyte, as well as 

 the rapid germination of the spores and the rapid growth 

 natural to a tropical climate, indicate that the gametophyte 

 is annual, and that it dies as soon as the young sporophyte 

 is established. 



In one case the rudiment of the bud was found close to the 

 apex of the primary root (Fig. 137/.), but usually it is found 

 at an intermediate point, but well removed from the base. In 

 the younger stages met with, the bud was already multicel- 

 lular, its cells distinguished from those of surrounding tissues, 

 by staining more strongly and showing evidences of active 

 growth. At a very early period (Fig. 147) the stem apex is 

 indicated by the presence of a small group of large cells, one 

 of which is probably the single apical cell; but in no cases 

 observed did this show the tetrahedral form which has been 

 found in other species of Ophioglosswn. This cell, in longitudinal 

 section, is somewhat wedge-shaped, broadly truncate at the 

 base instead of pointed, as in other species of Opldoglossum 

 that have been studied. Bruchmann does not specifically state 

 that the apical cell of the stem in 0. vulgatum is tetrahedral, 



