POLLINATION AND FERTILISATION 309 



propagation of Flowering Plants represent, in a vestigial form, parts 

 which are more fully represented in more primitive organisms. . They 

 all belong to the Gametophyte, or Haploid Generation. Here they 

 appear as only a few cells contained on the one hand in the micro- 

 spore, or pollen-grain, and its tube ; on the other in the megaspore, 

 or embryo-sac. But these represent in their position in the life- 

 cycle that haploid generation which will be seen later in larger pro- 

 portions and greater independence in such plants as the Ferns and 

 Mosses. In either case, however, it is Syngamy, that is the fusion of 

 primordial gametes to form a zygote, which closes the haploid phase. 

 This event forms the starting point for the new diploid individual, 

 which is the Germ or Embryo. 



