2 Ashworth, Tubers of Anthoceros tuberosus. 



provided with rootlets, and yielding, on compression in 

 water, a small amount of farinaceous matter and opaque 

 globules (loc. cit. p. 796). 



Nothing is said about the tubers of Petalophyllum 

 Preissii (Gottsche) beyond the statement of their presence 

 (loc. cit. p. 792). 



Recently Goebel* has found tubers on a Fossombronia 

 (n. sp.) from Tovar, which he finds are produced by the 

 thickening, and filling with reserve food materials, of a 

 downward-growing apex, on entering the soil. In these 

 tubers, Ruge (loc. cit. p. 306) finds that the reserve food 

 materials contain considerable quantities of starch. 



Beyond these observations I have been unable to find 

 any other references to the tubers of Liverworts. 



The object of my investigation was to ascertain the 

 structure and the nature of the contents of the tubers of 

 Anthoceros tuberosus. Unfortunately, I have had at my 

 disposal only dry herbarium material, but I have been 

 able to make out several new points of interest. 



Anthoceros tuberosus. The tubers occur on the ventral 

 surface of the thalloid expanse, and they lie embedded in 

 the soil beneath the thallus. They are spherical or pear- 

 shaped, their diameter being '15 — '35 mm., and the length 

 of the stalk attaching them to the ventral surface of the 

 thallus *2 — *35 mm. (PL 2, Fig. 1). The wall of each tuber 

 is formed of three or four layers of more or less rectangular 

 cells, which are almost devoid of contents, there being 

 only very small remnants of protoplasm found in some of 

 the cells (Fig. 1, C). The walls of these cells are corky 

 in nature, as they are coloured yellow by iodine, and are 

 not swollen or turned blue by a subsequent treatment 

 with strong sulphuric acid. Many of the cells of the 

 outermost layer, and some of the cells of the stalk, are 



* Flora. 1893. Band 77. G. Ruge. Beitrage z. Kentniss der 

 Vegetationsorgane der Lebermoose. p. 305. 



