EQUISETUMS — IROETES 



193 



close proximity, will be easily understood. As in the fern, the fertil- 

 ized egg-cell develops into an equisetum plant. 



The sterile shoots, Fig. 342, st, appear much later in the season. 

 They give rise to repeated whorls of angular or furrowed branches. 

 The leaves are very much reduced scales, situated at the internodes. 

 The stems are provided with chlorophyll and act as assimilrting 



342. Equisetum urvense; s<, sterile slioot ; /, fertile shoot showing the 

 spike at rt; i, sporophyll, with sporangia; s, spore. 



tissue, nourishing the rhizome and the fertile shoots. Nutriment 

 is also stored in special tubers developed on the rhizome. 



Other species of equisetum have only one kind of shoot — a tall, 

 hard, leafless, green shoot with the spike at its summit. Equisetum 

 stems are full of silex and they are sometimes used for scouring floors 

 and utensils: hence the common name " scouring rush." 



ISOETES 



Isoetes or quillworts are usually found in water or damp soil on 

 the edges of ponds and lakes. The general habit of a plant is seen 

 in Fig. 343, a. It consists of a short, perennial stem bearing numer- 

 ous erect, quill-like leaves witli broad sheathing bases. The plants 

 are commonly mistaken for young grasses. 



