XXIl] 



SPORE-PRODUCING MEMBERS 



107 



The sporangia are large and sessile, or in Lygodiiim shortly stalked, and 

 they are annulate. The annulus in living Schizaeaceae is usually uniseriate, 

 though occasionally it is more complex. It is contracted towards the apical 

 end of the sporangium, and there is a definite stomium (Fig. 45 i). However 



Fig. 451. Sporangia and spores of tlie Schizaeaceae. A, B, Schizaea pennula Sw. ^, seen 

 laterally : i>, the tip seen obliquely from above. C, Lygodiiim japoiicnm Sw., seen laterally. 

 D, E, Mohria caffrorinn (L.) Desv. Z>, seen from above: E, laterally. F, G, Anemia 

 Pliyllitidis Sw. F, view from midrib: G, from margin of pinnule. H-L, spores of the 

 Schizaeaceae. H, Schizaea pennula Sw. J, Lygodiiim japonicum Sw. A", Mohria 

 caffronim (L.) Desv. Z, Anemia fulv a Sw. (All but A' after Prantl : K, after Diels, 

 from Engler and Prantl.) 



contracted the annulus of these Ferns may appear, there is in its centre an 

 apical group of cells designated by Prantl the " plate," which may better be 

 called the "distal face" of the sporangium: it is an important feature for 

 comparison with other Ferns. Sometimes it consists of only one cell 

 (^Lygodiuni (Q, Schizaea (A, B)): sometimes of many (Anemia (F, G), 

 Mohria (D)). Usually its cells are thin-walled, but in Mohria they are 

 thick-walled and irregular (D). The rest of the sporangial wall is thin. The 

 sporangia of Mohria are radially constructed, the apex and base being 



