881 



SPONGIOLE. 



SPOROCARPIUM. 



8S2 



(From Dr. Grant.) 



1, Spongia oetilata (British), showing the orifices and currents outwards; 

 2, anastomosing horny substance of Spongia communii ; 3, siliceous spiculum of 

 Spongia papillarit ; 4, of Spongia cinerea ; 5, of Spongia panicea ; 6, calcareous 

 spiculum of Spongia compreua ; 7, transverse section of a canal of Spongia 

 papitlaru, to show the structure and the ova passing along the canal ; 8, ovum 

 of Spongia panicea seen laterally the cilite are anterior ; 9, the same seen on 

 the end, with a circle produced by the ciliary action ; 10, young Spongia papil- 

 /aru, grown from an ovum which had ceased to move about. 



SPONGIOLE, or SPONGELET, is a term applied by De Candolle 

 to the extremities of the ultimate fibrils into which the roots of all 

 plants are divided. [Koor.] 



SPOONBILL. . [PLATALEA.] 



SPORANGIUM (from a-ropA, a sowing, and fiyyoj, a vessel), a term 

 first employed by Hedwig to designate the capsule of Mosses, and 

 since applied very generally in cryptogamic botany to that part of the 

 reproductive apparatus which contains the spores. It is used in almost 

 all the cry ptopamic tribes synonymously with the terms Theca, Capsule, 

 Conceptacle, Folliculum, Involucrum, Sporocarpium. The multiplica- 

 tion of names applied to parts performing the same functions in the 

 various tribes of Cryptogamia has often led to much inconvenience ; 

 and it is much to be desired that writers on this department of botany 

 would agree to the adoption of a few well-defined terms, that would 

 apply to the whole of this class of plants. 



In the Fern; the sporangia are seated in tbe back of the frond, 

 forming little heaps called Sori. [Sop.us.] They are small brittle 

 compressed bags, consisting of cellular membrane, and are partially 

 surrounded by a thickened ring called the gyms. By means of this 

 ring the sporangia burst, and emit the spores which they contain. 



In Ophioylouacea, a small tribe of ferns, there are no sporangia, the 

 spores being contained in two lines parallel with the midrib of the 

 fertile frond, and are emitted when the frond unfolds itself. 



In Lycopodiaceoc the sporangia are seated in the axils of a bract 

 upon the fruit-stalk, and either burst by distinct valves or are inde- 

 hiscent. In this order there are two kinds, the one containing minute 

 powdery granules, the other containing only three or four roundish 

 fleshy bodies. The contents in both cases are considered sporules. 



In Maniliacea the sporangia form a Sporocarpium. [SPOROCARPIUM.] 



In SalnniaceiK they are of two kinds : in the one kind the sporangia 

 ire composed of a thin reticulated membrane, and contain one or six 

 and nine granules in their interior ; in the other kind the granules are 

 attached by pedicles to a central column, and are much smaller than 

 the first. These latter have been supposed to be male organs, and the 

 former female organs. 



In the Mosses the sporangia are open and unshaped, and are mostly 

 elevated on a slender stalk called the Seta. Tbe brim of this organ is 

 furnished with an elastic ring called the Annulus, and it has an interior 

 organisation called Peristomium. This internal part of the sporangium 

 has been called by Endlicher the Sporangidium. In the small section 

 Andrceactce the sporangia are closed, and split into four valves. Lin- 

 naeus supposed the sporangia were the male organs of the Mosses. 



In the Junyermanniacea the sporangium has no central column, as 

 in tbe Mosses, nor does it open by an operculum. It is a valvular 

 brown case elevated upon a cellular frequently twisted seta. It is 

 filled with spiral fibres, called Glaters, among which the sporules lie 

 intermixed. The spiral fibres by their hygrometric properties open 

 the sporangium, which is composed of four valves, and in this way 

 the spores escape. 



In Manhantiacen the sporangium ia placed, in some, beneath a 

 fungus-like receptacle, which is covered by a calyptra ; and in others 

 it is buried in the substance of the frond or lea'ed upon it. 



HAT. HUT. Ill V. VOL. IT. 



Sporangium is not applied to the reproductive organs of Lichens', 

 but the analogues of this organ iu these plants are what are called the 

 Shields, or Apothecia, which are filled with little tubes called Asci, iu 

 which the sporules are contained. There is also another form of the 

 reproductive organs iu Lichens, called Soredia, which are little heaps 

 of powdery grains scattered over the surface of the plant, which are 

 also the analogues of the sporangia. 



In the Algce, the sporules are scattered in most instances throughout 

 the substance of the plant, so that they have no proper seed-case or 

 sporangium ; but whenever the sporules are collected together into 

 one spot, and covered over by a distinct case, this is called a spo- 

 rangium. 



Among the Fungi the spores are frequently disseminated throughout 

 the cellular tissue of the plant, so that they have no particular organ 

 to contain them. Some of the Fungi however consist of a hollow case 

 containing spores, as the Lycoperdons and Sphserias, and the case con- 

 sisting of the whole plant is called by many writers the sporangium. 



SPORENDO'NEMA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Fungi, and the tribe Mucedines. It is exceedingly simple in its 

 organisation, consisting merely of sporidia disposed in rows within the 

 tubular pellucid floccL There are two species of this form of mould ; 

 the one, S. Casei (Red Cheese-Mould), is found on cheese, presenting 

 little red tufts, which, under the microscope, exhibit the flocci some- 

 what branched and woven together. The other species, S, muscw, is 

 called Fly-Mould, and is found on the bodies of flies in the autumn of 

 the year. It consists of flocci glued together, forming little whito- 

 lobed tufts, which make their appearance between the plates of the 

 abdomen of the insect. This is one of the few instances of plants 

 being parasitic on animals. This however has been denied, and some 

 writers assert that the fly-mould is nothing more than a diseased secre- 

 tion from the body of the fly. But Fries, Berkeley, and other crypto- 

 gamists, have recognised this mould as a plant. 



SPORES. [SPORULES.] 



SPOROCARPIUM (from a-iropd, a seed, and Kdpiros, fruit), a term 

 proposed by Link, and very generally adopted by German cryptogamic 

 botanists, to express a combination of sporangia when placed near 

 together, and more especially when any number of sporangia are 

 inclosed in a common membrane. 



Sporocarpium in this sense has been applied by Eudlicher to the 

 organ containing the reproductive organs in the order Marsileacece. 

 To this part the name Involucre has been given by many writers. 

 The sporocarpium of Marsilca when cut into exhibits several cells, 

 which contain little granular bodies. In the course of time these 

 granular bodies are projected from the sporocarpium, which splits into 

 two valves, being arranged around a mucilaginous cord, which when 

 it first appears is curved round, as seen at c in the accompanying 

 drawing of Marsttea Fabri. This mucilaginous cord eventually becomes 



Martilea Fabri. 



a a, Sporocarpia or Involucre seated in tlie axils of the leaves ; i, sporooir. 

 pium bursting ; c, a mucilaginous curved cord, to which tho sporangia arc- 

 attached ; d, the sporangia j e, the same removed from tho cord, exhibiting tl.r 

 ovoles ; /, reverse side, showing the anthers j ff, the mucilaginous cord si \ 

 cned, and the sporangia seated on it. 



3 L 



