URN MOSSES. 



143 



capsules, or sporocarpia, and, as a rule, are filled with sporules (or pollen) in the form 

 powder like granules, when they are called 

 antheridia; or they contain several rounded 

 fleshy bodies analogous to buds, much larger 

 than sporules, and named Oophoridia. In 

 Marsilea the organ of fructification is a modi- 

 fied leaf, and consists of two valves. The 

 fructification is immediately placed upon a 

 number of spikes, covered by ovules and 

 anthers, attached at first to the modified leaf 

 by a mucilaginous ring. The Split Mosses 

 and the Urn Mosses have organs of fructifi- 

 cation placed at the summit of their branches. 

 These are called Antheridia, and have an 

 elongated flattened form ; and, on being 

 ruptured, emit a multitude of spiral threads, 

 with an enlarged extremity, sometimes curled, and at others straight in their figure. 



These are said to be abortive Antheridia by certain writers ; but there is no doubt, 

 from their configuration and rapid motion, that they are true Phytozoa, or organs of 

 reproduction. 



This organ in the UrnMosses, as the Funaria hygrometrica (Fig. 288), is somewhat more 



Fig. 286. The Antheridium (a) of the Polytri- 

 chum Commune, emitting at b a. number of 

 coiled fibres, c d, with an enlarged free end, 



Rg. 287. 



Fig. 288. 



Fig. 287. The Hypnum Castrensis, or Feather Moss, with its organ of fructification, situate at the 



top of a long seta or stalk, A. 

 Fig. 288. A. The urns (w) of the Funaria Hygrometrica, supported on setae (s}, and covered by 



calyptra (c). B. s, the seta ; c, the calyptra ; u, the urn ; and o, the operculum of the 



encalyptra. 



complicated, and possesses parts which are most sensitive to the presence of moisture ; so 

 Tiuch so, that the observer breathing upon them causes them at once to contract. It 19 



