70 
sporophyte, and the present paper, it is hoped, will contribute 
something to our knowledge of these important points. 
In 1906, I had an opportunity of collecting prothallia and 
young sporophytes of Angiopteris evecta Hoffm. in Ceylon, and 
of Kaulfussia aesculifolia Bl. near Buitenzorg. In the summer 
of 1908, a fine series of prothallia of three species of Danaea 
was collected in Jamaica. An account of the prothallium of 
Kanlfussia has already been published ') and Luerssen ’), Jonk- 
man °) and Farmer‘) have described sufficiently at length the 
gametophyte of Angiopteris. As my studies on Danaea are still 
unfinished, their publication will be postponed until a future 
occasion, and the present paper will concern itself only with 
the embryo and young sporophyte of Angiopteris and Kaulfussia. 
The Marattiaceae are not as a rule very abundant ferns, but 
where they are growing vigorously, especially upon moist banks, 
young plants are often met with, and careful search will 
sometimes reveal the prothallia also, which are relatively large 
and conspicuous. The first accounts of the prothallium of the 
Marattiacaea were those of Luerssen®) and Jonkman°), who 
studied the germination of the spores and the development of 
the prothalliuam and reproductive organs in both Marattia and 
a tb eae 
Angiopteris. Their studies showed that the prothallium was 
much larger and more massive than that of the leptosporangiate 
ferns and resembled the thallus of certain liverworts. Moreover 
the reproductive organs were notably different from those Ob 
the typical leptosporangiate ferns. In 1892, Farmer *) described 
the prothallium and embryo of Angiopteris from material col- 
1) The Prothallium of Kaulfussia and Gleichenia, Ann. du Jardin Botanique 
Buitenzorg. 2e series. Vol. VII. p. 69—109. Leiden 1908. 
2) Luerssen, C.: Ueber die Entwickelungsgeschichte des Mar rattiaceenvorkeims. Bot. 3 
Zeit. 1875. 535, 
3) Jonkman, H. F.: La génération sexuée des Marattiacées. Arch, Néerlandais® ' 
S 
t. XV. p. 499. 4878. 
L’Embryogénie de l’Angiopteris et du Marattia. Ibid. XXX. 243— 
VI. 
) Loc. cit. 6) Loe. cit. 7) Loe. cit. 
230. ee 
4) Farmer, J. B.: The Embryogeny of Angiopteris evecta Hoffm. Ann. pm 
1892. - 
