THE AMERICAN 



MONTHLY 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL 



Voi,. XVI. 



APRIL, 1895. 



No. 4. 



Antheridia of a Moss. 



By R. H. ward, M. D., 



TROY, N. Y. 



( From Note book A, of the American Postal Microscopical Cliib.) 



WITH FRONTISPIECE. 



This longitudinal section (Fig. 1) through the summit 

 of the Hair-cap moss {Polytrichum) gives a clear display 

 of the male reproductive system or sterile "inflorescence" 

 of the mosses. Though not a flower, in any sense, it is 

 doubly interesting from its rough resemblance to one 



in general aspect. 



P,NTH£r:iDIA , 



■r,.PAf<APHYSES 



and its still great- 

 er resemblance to a 

 head of flowers like 

 an aster or solidago. 

 The essential por- 

 tion consists of the 

 several slightly 

 stalked {pedicilled) 

 cylinders on the dis- 

 coid summit of the 

 stem. These, which produce the male reproductive bod- 

 ies (awi/in-o2:ozd.5), are well called antheridia from their 

 analogy to the anthers of a flower. 



The morphological character of the antheridia is not 

 as obvious or as uniform as that of the (corresponding) 

 stamens in the higher plants. This might be expected 



