328 



REPRODUCTION IN PLANTS 



and Fungi, and is a regular part of the life cycle of all 

 higher plants. It can be most readily understood by con- 

 sidering the life history of a moss and then comparing 

 this with a fern. 



Moss plants (Fig. 84) are green independent land 

 plants capable of manufacturing their own food. Some 



Fio. 84. — Mosses. 1. A male gametophyte with a cluster of 

 antheridia in a rosette of leaves at the tip. 2. The antheridia with 

 the enclosing leaves removed. 3. A female plant with a sporopjhyte 

 att-ached to the right branch. 4. A group of archegonia from a tip 

 like the one to which the sporophyt^ of fig. 3 is attachetl. VVTien 

 the egg in the base of the archegonium is ready for fertilization a 

 8f)erm from an antheridial branch swims in the thin films of water 

 that are i)rc.sent on the moss plants after rain or dew and goes down 

 the long neck of the archegonium and unites with the egg. From 

 this fertilized egg the sporophyte arises and remains attached by 

 its foot, deriving all its water and .salt,s and part of it« food from 

 the leafy gametophyt«. 5. The upi)er part of the sporophyte, called 

 the capsule, of>cn and shedding sfwres. 



time (hiring their growth there develops, usually at the 

 stem tips, a group of sex orgatis. The sort in which sperms 

 are formed are called antheridia. Each one consists of a 

 short stalk and body. The latter has an outside layer of 



