CRYPTOGAMS 



343 



ar 



FIG. 485. Fruiting recep- 

 tacle of a moss (Phascum cus- 

 pidatum), bearing both anther- 

 idia, an, and archegonia, ar, at 

 the bifurcated apex ; 6, leaves ; 

 p, paraphyses. 



axes, or of lateral branches (Figs. 485, 486), but as a rule 

 only one archegonium is fertilized, so the mature sporo- 



gonia are solitary. The plants may 



be either dioecious or monoecious, as 



in Fig. 485 ; and in 



the latter case, the 



reproductive organs 



may be borne on the 



same, or on different, 



receptacles. The 



antheridia and the 



archegonia are both 



mixed with club- 

 shaped hairs called 



paraphyses (Fig. 



485). 



399. The sporophyte. An examination 

 of the fruiting capsule of any of the true 

 mosses will show that it consists of a long 

 footstalk, the seta, s, Fig. 486, bearing a 

 capsule, or ripened sporogonium, /, which 

 is at first surmounted by a cap or hood, 

 known as the calyptra, c. The hood repre- 

 sents the excessively developed and often 

 highly specialized wall of the archegonium. 

 It falls away at maturity, and the spores are 



discharged through an opening made by the 



, r ,, ! i 7 rm FIG. 486. Fruit- 



removal ol the operculum, or lid, d. The i ng stem of a moss 



spores and the capsule are both developed (Poiyirichum ^ com- 



r jr -,.,., , ., ... . .. mune) with ripe cap- 



irom the fertilized .egg (oospore), within the suies: , seta, or foot- 

 archegonium, in much the same manner as in ^i ; ^JH^ 

 the liverworts, and together constitute the after the calyptra has 

 sporophyte, or asexual generation. It never cuium Kd. ' J 

 leads a completely independent existence, but remains a 

 partial parasite on the mother plant, though the lower part 

 of the young sporogonium is usually provided with stomata 



