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ARCHEGONIUM OF RICCIOCARPUS 



antheridium and the canal cells become mucilaginous, thus 

 forming a passageway to the female gamete (Fig. 182, F). The 

 male gametes, attracted, it is supposed, by cane sugar, developed 

 in the archegonium, swim down the canal of the neck, and one 

 unites with the female gamete, as shown in Fig. 182, F, where 



Fig. 182. Development of the female gametangium or archegonium 

 A-D, stages in the development of the archegonium from a single cell. E 

 nearly mature archegonium just before the female gamete is formed — en 

 canal cells. F, lip cells have opened and the canal cells have dissolved, thus 

 forming a passage way to female gamete. ■ A male gamete has entered and 

 is seen fusing with the nucleus of the large female gamete. — After Garber. 



the two gametes are seen fusing. Note that mucilage retained 

 in the neck protects the female gamete against loss of water and 

 also that the attenuated form of the male is of advantage in 

 enabling it to work its way through this substance. 



(c) Germination of the Gametospore and Spore Formation. — 

 The gametospore, resulting from this fusion, becomes surrounded 

 by a cell wall, but does not function as a resting spore as in some 

 of the algae. It germinates at once and by repeated divisions of 



