230 
will call the attention to a remarkable condition, found in 
Selaginella apus by Miss Lyon (93). Here the fertiliza- 
tion takes place when the megaspore is still attached to 
the strobilus. This is the first step taken in the direction 
of a closer relation between the new generation and the 
mother-plant, which is still more accentuated in Sel. 
rupestris: ,quite late in the development after the embryo 
has formed, the megasporangium becomes sunken in a 
shallow pit formed by the cushion-like upgrowth of the 
sporophyll around the pedicel (p. 125). 
We have here the first indication in still living Lycopods 
of the formation of a seed-like organ, as is known already 
for the fossil Lepidocarpon. 
$ 3. Lepidocarpon. 
Literature; Oliver (99). 
The axis of the megastrobilus bears in spiral order the 
sporophylls, which are bent up at their distal apex. 
On the upper surface of the sporophyll the megaspo- 
range originates, in the mature condition enclosed by an 
indusium, growing up from the body of the sporophyll 
on both sides of the sporange. Both parts meet at the 
top, leaving a long fissure in the apical surface. At the 
proximal side of the sporange the indusium forms a closed 
wall, whereas in the distal portion it becomes entirely 
fused with the apex of the sporophyll. Inside the sporange, 
only one functional megaspore develops, filled in the ripe 
state with a prothallium. It then becomes detached from 
the plant with the sporophyll and the indusium like a seed. 
The microsporanges too are partially enclosed in an 
integumental organ. 
