262 



FECUNDATION IN RICCIOCARPUS 



open in the same manner as noted in the antheridium and the 

 canal cells become mucilaginous, thus forming a passage way 

 to the female gamete (Fig. 182, F). The male gametes, attracted, 

 it is supposed, by cane sugar, developed in the archegonium, 



Fig. 182. Development of the female gametangium or archegonium: 

 A-D, stages in the development of the archegonium from a single cell. E, 

 nearly mature archegonium just before the female gamete is formed — en, 

 canal cells. F, lip cells have opened and the canal cells have dissolved, thus 

 forming a passage way to female gamete. A male gamete has entered and 

 is seen fusing with the nucleus of the large female gamete. — After Garber. 



swim down the canal of the neck, and one unites with the female 

 gamete, as shown in Fig. 182, F, where the two gametes are seen 

 fusing. Note that mucilage retained in the neck protects the 

 famale gamete against loss of water and also that the attenuated 

 form of the male is of advantage in enabling it to work its way 

 through this substance. 



(c) Germination of the Gametospore and Spore Formation.— 

 The gametospore, resulting from this fusion, becomes surrounded 



