1904 | BRIEFER ARTICLES 63 
SPORE DISTRIBUTION IN LIVERWORTs.—It has no doubt been 
noticed by all observers of the liverworts that, while terrestrial species 
have as a rule (Riccia and Sphaerocarpus are exceptions) their capsules 
raised on elongated stalks furnished either by sporophyte or gameto- 
phyte, those which grow on trees seldom elongate their stalks more 
than enough to free the capsule from the perianth. This difference is 
plainly due to the fact that the arboricolous species are sufficiently ele- 
vated to allow their spores to be well scattered without any special con- 
trivance. It is interesting to note, however, g2% ; 
the behavior of the fertile branches of Pored/a 
Se : 
Fic. 17.—Clavaria mucida. Hy- 
phae surrounding groups of algae. 
Highly magnified. 
Fic. 16.—Clavaria mucida, growing on 
alga-covered wood. X § 
platyphylla Lindb. While the vegetative branches of. the liverwort 
remain closely appressed to the bark of the tree, the fertile shoots bend 
away some time before the spores are ripe, and often project a centl- 
meter or more from the substratum. This exposes the spores to the 
free play of the wind and no doubt prevents many of them from being 
caught by the leaves of the mother plant. This habit seems to show 
that even in arboreal forms it may be an advantage to have the capsule 
removed some distance from the substratum. It will be noticed here 
that Porella resembles the Marchantiaceae in giving over to the gamet- 
ophyte the duty of lifting the capsules.—W. C. COKER, University of 
North Carolina, Chapel fill. 
ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE QUADRIPOLAR 
SPINDLE IN THE HEPATICAE. 
SEVERAL papers have appeared recently bearing on the subject of 
the quadripolar spindle in the Hepaticae, particularly in connection 
with the genus Pellia. As the writers do not always seem to have 
