MOSSES 83 



slender neck, and the cavity in the base, con- 

 taining the specialised cell (oosphere), from which 

 the fruit is to originate (fig. 4). The two fruit- 

 bearing organs given at fig. 5 illustrate the 

 unfertilised and the fertilised conditions. In the 

 autumn we may alight on specimens of this same 

 organ which have advanced considerably further 

 (fig. 6), and where, owing to the development, 

 inside, of the young spore-vessel, the swollen base 

 has become so much enlarged as to have quite 

 lost its original form. The remains of the slender 

 neck, however, at its upper end, will conclusively 

 prove its true character. 



All through the winter, when nature, in general, 

 seems to be asleep, there is little, if any, suspension 

 of operations in the moss world, and, long before 

 the first welcome days of spring, the green 

 cushions on the hedge-bank will bristle with 

 numberless delicate yellow stalks, each of them 

 tipped, as a peep through the glass will 

 demonstrate, by the long tapering veil (calyptra) 

 (fig. 7), while, on cutting away the leaves at the 

 base, the sheath (vaginula) will be found, en- 

 circling the lower portion of the stalk (fig. 8). 

 Later on, the young capsule has begun to assume 

 a more characteristic appearance (fig. 9), and 

 soon the veil is pushed or blown off. A search 

 with the glass among the leaves will often 

 disclose some, lying about, that have been thus 

 discarded (fig. 10). By and by, each bristling 



