247 
divided and two-parted sporangia were frequently met with. In a specimen from 
the Limfjord, sporangia were found which were irregularly divided into more than 
4 cells (fig. 164 B). 
The antheridial conceptacles (fig. 166) occur in the same plants as the female 
ones. They are very small, e. g. 56 y in inner diameter, totally immersed or only 
little prominent. The bottom is composed of one to two cell-layers. The cells of 
the roof are often partly disorganized. The ostiole is conical or conical-cylindrical, 
sometimes, but not always provided with a long spout resembling that in M. Lejolisii. 
The spermatangia 
are cylindrical and 
form a dense co- 
vering on the flat 
bottom of the con- 
ceptacle; they are 
produced from low 
cells forming a 
layer over the bot- 
tom. The sperma- 
tia seem to be ob- 
long, 2—3 times 
as long as broad. 
There are no long 
sterigmata as in 
M. Lejolisii. 
The female 
conceptacles Ke Melobesia limitata. Vertical sections re conceptacles. A—C from I, D from 
semble the SPOT- Amtoft Rev. A and B, before discharge of the spermatia. D, the ostiole is prolonged in 
angial ones. A a spout. A and D 650:1. C 560:1. 
young stage with unfertilized carpogonia is shown in fig. 167 A; a number of car- 
pogonial branches are placed on the bottom. The short cell under the carpogonium 
is probably the auxiliary cell. After fertilization, the surrounding elongated cells 
shown in fig. 167 A are dissolved, the developing cystocarp increasing at the peri- 
phery. A ripe cystocarp is seen in fig. 167 D, showing a number of carpospores 
produced at the periphery of the cystocarp, while numerous unfertilized carpogonia 
are still visible on the middlemost part of the floor. The cystocarpic conceptacles 
are 210—325 » in diameter; they are of the same shape as the sporangial ones, and 
the roof and the ostiole have a similar structure. The ostiole is surrounded by 
similar inward and upward converging filaments, which may sometimes project 
outwards as a crown. A well developed crown is shown in fig. 167 C, where the 
free ends of the filaments are distinctly articulated. In fig. 167 D, which shows 
another conceptacle of the same plant, the free ends of the filaments seem to haye 
been thrown off, for the converging filaments are only one- or two-celled, and re- 
ae > 
\ 
HINT An 
D 
