[5] 76 MOSSES 



Funaria. 



A. Examine a single plant of Funaria (a common Moss) under the dissecting microscope. Make a sketch 

 illustrating the differentiation of the plant -body into (a) a slender axis, bearing (b) delicate green leaves, and 

 (c) brown rhizoids in a tuft on the lower part of the axis. The leafy axis bears a slender stalk terminating in 

 a pear-shaped capsule containing spores similar to the spores of Pellia. 



B. Detach a single leaf and examine it in water under a low power. Observe that it consists of a single 

 layer of cells all alike and that there are no veins. Under the high power draw some of the cells shewing 

 the thin cell-wall, protoplasm with numerous disc-shaped chloroplasts embedded in it and the large vacuole 

 occupying most of the cell-cavity, as in Elodea. 



C. Examine some of the brown rhizoids under the high power and observe that they consist of threads of 

 cells, branching at intervals. The end walls of the cells are very oblique. 



D. Examine the transverse section of the stem of Mnium (another common Moss). Distinguish in a 

 drawing the narrow thin-walled water-conducting cells, the larger cortical cells and the thick-walled protective 

 r.ells on the surface. 



