1 84 



MORPHOLOG Y. 



the sexual phase of the plant (gametophyte) was the prominent one, 

 and consisted of either a thallus or a leafy axis, but in either case it bore the 

 sexual organs and led an independent existence; that is it was capable of ob- 

 taining its nourishment from the soil or water by means of organs of absorp- 

 tion belonging to itself, and it also performed the office of carbon conversion. 

 376. The spore-bearing phase (sporophyte) of the liverworts and mosses, 

 on the other hand, is quite small as compared with the sexual stage, and it is 



F 



li- 



Fig. 229. 



Young embryo of fern (Adiantum concinnum) in enlarged venter of the archegonium. S, 

 stem ; L, first leaf or cotyledon ; R, root ; F, foot. 



completely dependent on the sexual stage for its nourishment, remaining at- 

 tached permanently throughout all its development, by means of the organ 

 called a foot, and it dies after the spores are mature. 



377. Now in the ferns we see several striking differences. In the first 

 place, as we have already observed, the spore-bearing phase (sporophyte) of 



