PROTHALLIA AND SPORELINGS OF THREE NEW 



ZEALAND SPECIES OF LYCOPODIUM 



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE HULL BOTANICAL LABORATORY 222 



Charles J. Chamberlain 



(with PLATES II-IIl) 



Few botanists have even seen the prothallia of Lycopodium, and 

 most of those who have had such a privilege are indebted to one 

 man, Bruchmann of Gotha; fewer still have made any investiga- 

 tion of the subject. The reason prothallia and sporelings of 

 Lycopodium have not been so extensively studied as those of the 

 ferns is not lack of interest, but difficulty in germinating the spores 

 or finding prothallia growing naturally. In 191 1 I collected adult 

 plants of several New Zealand species of Lycopodium and made 

 some effort to find prothallia, but my time was too limited for 

 such slow, uncertain work. However, Professor A. P. W. Thomas, 

 at that time botanist of the University at Auckland, very kindly 

 gave me prothallia and sporelings of 3 characteristic New Zealand 



species, Lycopodium laterale, L. volubile, and L. scariosum. Pro- 

 thallia and sporelings are known in so few species that it seems worth 

 while to give some account of this material. 



Since the literature of the subject was examined with consider- 

 able care, all of the original papers cited being available, and since 

 E. A. Spessarb, a student of mine, is announcing in this issue of the 

 Botanical Gazette the first discovery of the prothallia and spore- 

 lings of several American species of Lycopodium, a historical resume 

 may be of service to those who are in favorable localities and who 

 might wish to study the subject. 



Historical 



Treub (7) introduced his classic account of the prothallium of 

 Lycopodium cernuum with the remark that the history of the subject 

 could be given in a few words, since it was necessary to cite only 

 3 or 4 investigators. Spring (2), Hofmeister (3), DeBary (4), 

 Fankhouser (5), and Beck (6) are mentioned ; but neither Spring 



5 1 ] {Botanical Gazette, vol. 63 



