SCHIZAEACEAE 545 
more likely that the sporangia are originally of surface origin. Nor does 
it appear unlikely that there should be inconstancy in this respect within 
the family, when it is remembered that the sporangia may be either 
marginal or superficial in the Osmundaceae. 
The sporangia are large and sessile, or in Zygodium shortly stalked, 
and are annulate. The annulus in the living forms is usually uniseriate, 
Sporangia of the Schizaeaceae. 4, B=Schizaca pennula, Sw. A seen laterally. £& 
the tip seen obliquely from above. C=Lygodium japonicum, Sw., seen laterally. D, 
E=Mohria caffrorum (L) Desy. )D=seen from above. &, laterally. F, Ancimia 
Phyllitidis, Sw. F=view from midrib, G from margin of pinnule. A/—£=spores of 
the Schizaeaceae. H=Schisaea pennula, Sw. J/=Lygodium japonicum, Sw. K= 
Mohria caffrorum (L) Desv. L=Aneimia fulva, Sw. (All but A after Prantl. 
K, after Diels—from Engler and Prantl, Vad. Phlanzenfam.) 
though occasionally it is more complex : it is contracted towards the apical 
end of the sporangium, and there is a definite stomium; but however 
contracted it may appear, there is in its centre an apical group of thin-walled 
cells (or it may be only a single one in Lygodivm and Schisaea), designated 
by Prantl the “ plate.” It is important to note its existence for comparison 
with sporangia of other Ferns. The rest of the sporangial wall is thin. 
2M 
