140 THE NATURE AND WORK OF PLANTS 



masses, or areas will be seen. After they are com- 

 pletely ripe, strike a sheet of white paper with the 

 frond. A quantity of brownish particles will be 

 thrown out on the paper. Examine with a lens. 

 They appear to be roughened balls or egg-shaped 

 masses. These are the asexual spores of the fern. 

 Now examine the masses on the fern leaf with the 

 lens. The spores have been enclosed in flasks or 

 capsules with short stalks. Sometimes the collec- 

 tion of capsules is covered with a shield, or by the 

 upturned edge of the frond. 



Secure a small piece of a leaf of any common 

 fern with mature spore cases. Allow it to become 

 quite dry. Now lay it with the spore surface 

 upward on a sheet of white blotting paper satu- 

 rated with water, and cover with a glass dish. 

 Remove the dish and examine a day later. Numer- 

 ous brown spores will be seen scattered over the 

 blotting paper in all directions. The spores are 

 thrown out in a cloud by ferns in damp weather 

 by the action of the capsules in which they are 

 formed. 



A great many of the mosses and liverworts are 

 known also to reproduce themselves by means of 

 various kinds of bulbils, cuttings, and similar parts. 



