ACROGENS FINISHED. 



39 



69. The Marsileas (Fig. 38) have 

 true leaves, resembling those of a 

 four-leaved clover, but fork-veined 

 like the fern, and circinate in bud. 

 The spore-cases of these elegant little 

 water-plants look so like the pods 

 of some phanerogams that they are 

 called Sporocarps. The sporocarps 

 contain two kinds of spores (Fig. 

 39) : Maarospores (Gr. makros, large), 

 which are female, and Microspores 

 (Gr. mikros, small), which are male. 

 These sporocarps spring from the 

 creeping root- stock, or from the base 

 of the leaf-stalk. 



Fig. 37. — Horsetail {"Egtiue- 

 tvm Telmateia: 1, top of fertile 

 stem, 'with cone of spores; 2, 

 a scale from the cone, with its 

 spore-cases and stalk ; 3, a spore 

 with its four filaments un- 

 coiled ; 4, spore with coiled 

 filaments. 



The leaves sleep at night. 

 The little starchy fruits, about 

 the size of peppercorns, are 



Fig. 38. — ManUea macropus^ or Salvatrix; 

 showing sporocarps on the creeping root, near 

 the hases of the long leaf-stalks. Plant entire. 



edible. Those of the Nardoo {M. 



Fig. 39. — Vert. sec. of sporocarps 

 s) : i, ^' 



Xio. 



macropus), which , abounds in Aus- "I,^,Z^j:^\^m£S^oT.rlil6.' 



tralia, are made into bread by the 



natives. The Marsileas love temperate and hot climates. 



70. Tha Club-Mosses (Fig. 40) stand at the head of the. 

 Cryptogamia. They have branching prostrate stems and 

 true leaves, which are subulate (awl-shaped), like those of 



