184 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
first peculiarity of the young sporophyte of Angiopteris, as well as 
of all Marattiaceae, is the way in which the first leaf makes its 
exit from the gametophyte. As is well known, in most ferns the 
primary leaf grows first downward, and then emerges from under 
the gametophyte through the notch in the heart-shaped form of the 
latter. In Angiopteris, on the contrary, the first leaf pushes its 
way upward through the gametophyte and emerges on the dorsal 
side, as shown in figs. 1 and 2. CAMPBELL (3) attributes this 
behavior to the fact that the first division of the fertilized egg comes 
Fics. 1, 2.—Gametophyte and sporeling of Angiopteris, showing mode of exit of 
primary sporophyte organs from prothallus; <4. 
in transversely to the axis of the archegonium, or parallel with the 
axis of the gametophyte; while in most ferns it is usual to find the 
first wall perpendicular to the gametophyte, or parallel with the 
axis of the archegonium. In an unpublished paper by Lanp (11) 
on the embryogeny of Angiopteris, the presence of a well defined 
suspensor is reported, and he suggests that this organ very probably 
is responsible for the initial upward growth of the primary leaf in 
the Marattiaceae. The suspensor has now been reported for two 
other genera, Macroglossum (5) and Danaea (1), and it is probable 
that its presence in the remaining genera awaits further investiga- 
tions. 
