MOSSES 67 



cluster of buds, each one of which in due course 

 opens into the beautiful snow-white blossom that 

 one knows so well. In the centre of this we find 

 a number of long green stalks, each with a dark 

 brown head (the stamens), and these surround 

 a thick green pod (the pistil), inside which, if 

 we cut it open, we may see the unripe seeds, 

 from which future lilies are to spring. It is at 

 this stage in the life of the plant that the fertilisa- 

 tion of these unripe seeds in the pistil is effected, 

 by means of the small yellow grains of pollen 

 from the heads (anthers) of the stamens, which 

 grains contain the wonderful fertilising matter, 

 without the assistance of which the seeds would 

 never ripen, let the season be ever so favourable, 

 and the plant be supplied with the best possible 

 nutriment. In a moss, on the other hand, the 

 spore gives rise to a plant, which, as we have 

 seen, bears leaves and reproductive organs, but 

 until fertilisation has taken place the reproductive 

 organs will produce no fruit-vessel, and con- 

 sequently no spores. The result of fertilisation 

 in this case is that the fruit-vessel, or capsule, 

 makes its appearance, and inside this the spores 

 are developed and ripen, without any further 

 assistance, beyond what is afforded by the ordinary 

 food taken in by the plant. In the one case, to 

 put it shortly, fertilisation brings about the 

 ripening of the unripe seeds which have already 

 been formed in the fruit-vessel, while in the 



