272 



THE HIGHER MOSSES 



above the leaves and exposes the capsule to the winds quite as 

 effectually as the seta of the hepatics and mosses (Fig. 203, 5). 

 The spores are freed by the falling off of a circular lid, or, 



Fig. 204. 



Fig. 205. 



Fig. 204. Germination of the spore of Sphagnum: A, early growth of 

 the spore. B, later development — sp, spore; b, bud developing into moss 

 plant. C, margin of the thallus, showing the origin of the bud. — After 

 Campbell. 



Fig. 205. The twisted stalk moss, Funaria: A, two sporophyte-bearing 

 plants, the remains of the archegonium or calyptra still attached to the 

 capsule on the right. B, enlarged view of plant with the young sporo- 

 phyte, still enclosed in the archegonium, just emerging above the leaves. 

 C, the male plant bearing the antheridia in a conspicuous rosette of leaves. 

 P, upper portion of the sporophyte. showing the twisting of the stalk or 

 seta that assist in sifting the spores through the teeth, peristome, that 

 encircle the mouth of the capsule. 



operculum, as is the case among the majority of the mosses 

 ( Fig. 203. o). This is effected by a ring of thin-walled cells, 

 the annulus, that lie in the groove just below the operculum and 

 which are very readily broken as the cells of the mature capsule 



