Vol. 50 No. 6 
BULLETIN 
OF THE 
TORREY pean CLUB 
JUNE, 1923 
The antherozoid of the genus Riccardia 
W. N. STEIL 
(WITH FIVE TEXT FIGURES) 
A number of unsuccessful attempts were made to obtain 
the antherozoids of Riccardia pinguis (L.) S. F. Gray, which 
was found growing in a swamp in the vicinity of Madison, 
Wisconsin. Finally, on May 20, 1919, from a single male plant 
motile antherozoids were obtained. At this time, a number of 
preparations were made by first inverting a slide with a drop 
of water containing the free-swimming antherozoids over the 
fumes of a I per cent osmic acid solution. The preparation 
was then exposed to the air, and as soon as the water was 
evaporated, the slide was stained with a dilute gentian violet 
solution. By this method it was easy to stain the cilia and the 
different parts of the body of the antherozoid. Good prepara- 
tions were also obtained with the acid-fuchsin and safranin 
combination.*. 
The antherozoid of Riccardia pinguis (Fic. 1) is very large 
as compared with that of other liverworts. The accompanying 
drawing of the antherozoid of Marchantia polymorpha L. (Fic. 
2), represented by the same magnification as the antherozoid 
of the Riccardia, shows the great difference in size between the 
antherozoids of the two species and also that the cilia are of 
equal length and attached to the same point of the body of the 
antherozoid. 
*See Steil, Staining the antherozoid of the fern. Bot. Gaz. 65: 562. f. 1. 
1918, 
[The BuLLETIN for May (50: 159-196. pl. 8) was issued May 25, 1923.] 
197 
