38 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



The Fruit-bearing Organ (archegonium)to 

 which is entrusted the duty of producing the 

 fruit of the moss is very different in appearance 

 from the fertilising organ, as will be seen by a 

 reference to Plate III. fig. 6, which represents 

 two taken from the Velvet Feather-moss (BracJiy- 

 thecium velutinum), another frequent inhabitant 

 of our country hedgerows. It is somewhat flask- 

 shaped, having a long, slender neck, ending in 

 a round, swollen base, the whole resembling in 

 outline a diminutive flask or bottle. In colour 

 it is a deep crimson, and again the microscope 

 generally discloses the presence round it of a 

 number of the thread-like paraphyses. As the 

 organ ripens, an extremely fine passage is formed 

 down the centre of the slender neck, by the 

 parting of certain of the cells. The cells, too, 

 at the top of the neck roll back, thus opening 

 the way into this passage, which leads directly 

 into a cavity in the swollen base. Here there 

 is one special cell, known as the oosphere, from 

 which, in due course, the fruit will spring, and 

 to which I shall refer again very shortly. 



It is perhaps well that I should point out in 

 passing the extreme minuteness of these repro- 

 ductive organs; many of them, even when care- 

 fully mounted, are not more than just visible to 

 the unaided eye, and large numbers may be 

 packed in one of the small bud-like flowers, which 

 is itself hardly noticeable, even on a more or 



