246 RHIZOMES AND BOOTS. 



(118) Male Fern Rhizome. 



The rhizome of Aspidium Filix-mas, Swartz (N.O. Filicinese 

 together with the adherent bases of petioles. 



Both rhizome and petiole-base present the following 

 structure : 



(1) Epidermis, the cells of which are thin-walled and dar 

 brown in colour; in surface view they are polygonal and 

 elongated. 



(2) Hypoderma, composed of five or six rows of cells, which are 

 rounded in transverse section and very dark brown in colour. 

 In surface view they are seen to be strongly axially elongated 

 and provided with thick pitted walls. 



(3) Cortex (ground tissue) consisting of large, polygonal, paren- 

 chymatous cells with distinct intercellular spaces. These cells 

 contain a considerable quantity of starch in small simple 

 grains, which are often compacted into little masses in the 

 centre of the cell, or more commonly near one of its walls. 

 Distributed throughout this tissue are large, axially elongated, 

 intercellular spaces, in which one or more small oval or rounded 

 oleoresinous secretion cells may be found, attached to cells of 

 the parenchyma by a narrow neck. 



(4) Steles. The ground tissue is traversed by a number of steles 

 of varying diameter. These contain a wood consisting of 

 scalariform, pitted and spiral vessels, a bast in which there are 

 numerous sieve tubes, a non-lignified pericycle, and an 

 endodermis, the cells of which are also not lignified. The cells 

 of the ground tissue bordering on the steles usually have pitted 

 walls. 



The brown scales attached to the rhizome consist of long 

 fusiform cells with pale brown walls, which are free from pits 

 and only slightly thickened. 



The diagnostic characters of powdered male fern rhizome are; 

 (a) The large parenchymatous cells with small starch 



(b) The oleoresin cells. 



(c) The fibrous hypoderma. 



(d) The abundant scalariform vessels. 



(e) TJte fragments of the scaly hairs. 



(f) The absence of crystals. 



