CRYPTOGAMS 



343 



Fig. 485. — Fruiting recep- 

 tacle of a moss {Phascum cus- 

 pidatum), bearing botii anther- 

 idia, an, and archegonia, ar, at 

 the bifurcated apex ; b, leaves ; 

 p, paraphyses. 



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

 only one arch(^goniuin 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 

 removal of the operculum, or lid, d. The 

 spores and the capsule are both developed 

 from the fertilized egg (oospore) , within the suics : «, seta, or foot- 



1 • • 1 1 1 • stalk ; c, capsule with 



archegonmm, m much the same manner as m ^..^lypir^ . f, capsule 

 the liverworts, and together constitute the -if*'''' t'^'^ calyptra has 



, , , i- Ti fallen awav ; d, opor- 



sporophyte, or asexual generation. It never cuium, or lid. 

 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 



FKi.4SG. — Fruit- 

 ing stem of a mos3 

 (Fvlytrichum com- 

 mune) with ripe cap- 



