58 



PLANTS AND MAN 



SPORANGIA 

 CLUSTERS 



^ ^SPORES 



SPORANGIUM 



Fig. 31. — ^The familiar leafy fern plant begins its reproductive phase by 

 the development of sporangia, each sporangium consisting of a stalk and a 

 capsule filled with spores. 



SIDE VIEW 



UNDER SURFACE 



Fig. 32. — ^The fern gametophyte, or prothallus, is a flattened heart-shaped 

 plant of minute size, attached to the earth by tufts of rhizoids. 



