418 



BRYOPHYTES (MOSS PLANTS) 



spongy tissues cannot occur and are not needed until leaves be- 

 come more than one cell in thickness. The stem is also quite 

 simple in structure, and is not dif- 

 ferentiated into the tissues which 

 characterize the stems of higher 

 plants. 



The sporophyte is commonly much 

 larger than that of the Liverworts 



a 



FIG. 372. The game- 

 tophyte of a Moss, con- 

 sisting of stem- (s) and 

 leaf-like structures (I), 

 and rhizoids (r) which 

 attach it to the sub- 

 stratum. X about 2. 



FIG. 373. The two 

 generations of Moss, g, 

 gametophyte genera- 

 tion; a, sporophyte gen- 

 eration; s, sporangium 

 of the sporophyte. 



and it can be seen usually at a considerable distance projecting 

 from the top of the gametophyte. A plant bearing a sporophyte 

 looks like Figure 373. 



