MOSSES 89 



development of a moss from the spore. We may 

 often see this well illustrated in the microscope 

 in the case of the Pellucid Four-toothed Moss 

 ( Tetraphis pellucida) ; for here, so anxious do 

 these small hud-like hodies seem to be to take 

 up their life-work, that the thread-like growth 

 (protonema) frequently shows itself even before 

 they have fallen out of the leafy cup in which 

 they are originally formed. 



Plate VI. fig. 15 is a drawing of a leaf of the 

 moss known as Lyell's Bristle-moss (Orthotrichum 

 Jjyellii), which makes its abode on the trunks of 

 trees. Its leaves, when closely examined, will 

 be seen to have a number of small brown bodies 

 growing upon them; these are easily visible by 

 the help of an ordinary magnifying-glass, and 

 may even, when present in large numbers, as is 

 frequently the case, be made out by the unassisted 

 eye. They are really the beginnings of the 

 thread-like protonema itself, and sometimes attain 

 a considerable length while still clinging to the 

 plant. A few, on a larger scale, are given at 

 fig. 16. 



The pale-fruited Thread-moss ( Webera annotina, 

 Plate VI. fig. 12) is another instance of a moss 

 which is very rarely met with in fruit, and yet 

 is by no means uncommon. In this case small 

 bulb-like bodies are produced in the axils of the 

 leaves; these, when sown, will also give rise to 

 the thread-like protonema, from which again fresh 



