356 MUSCI. [CHAP. 



leafy shoots give origin to new Moss-plants, which bear 

 the reproductive organs when fully developed. 



While in Ferns the spores give origin on their germi- 

 nation to a minute temporary organ, upon which antheridia 

 and archegonia are developed, in Mosses the co.mplete 

 vegetative system — that is, roots, branches, and leaves — 

 is developed from the spores without the intervention of 

 sexual organs. Upon the leafy branches antheridia and 

 archegonia, analogous, though different in structure, to 

 those of Ferns, are developed. From the archegonia, 

 fertilised by the spiral antherozoids liberated by the an- 

 theridia, arise the sporanges, usually borne up by a slender 

 peduncle, the seta, and capped by the upper portion of 

 the archegonium, which is torn away by the rising sporange, 

 for which it forms the calyptra. The mouth of the 

 sporange is closed until mature by a lid (operculum), which 

 separates when ripe, exposing a row of minute teeth around 

 the margin of the sporange, in many Mosses. These teeth 

 form the peristome. 



In Mosses, vessels are wholly absent from both stem 

 and leaves ; hence they — together with the plants grouped 

 under the three following Families, all of which are destitute 

 of vascular tissue — are termed Cellular Plants. Nearly all 

 the plants which we have hitherto noticed, whether of 

 Flowerless or Flowering Families, contain vessels, and are 

 consequently termed Vascular Plants. 



The species of Musci are very numerous, especially in 

 cool and cold climates. In India they are almost confined 

 to the Himalaya, the mountains of Eastern Bengal, the 

 Peninsula, Ceylon, and the Malayan chaii 



