244 



MORPHOLOG Y. 



of mosses, and is one way in which they are separated from the 

 leafy-stemmed liverworts, the latter never having a midrib. 



516. The fruiting moss plant. — In fig. 280 is a moss plant "in 

 fruit," as we say. Above the leafy stem a slender stalk bears 



the rapsule, and in this capsule are borne 

 the spores. The ca|)sule then belongs to 

 the sporophvte phase of the moss plant, and 

 we should inquire whether the entire plant 

 as we see it here is the sporophyte, or 

 whether part of it is gametophyte. If 

 a part of it is gametophyte and a part 

 sporophyte, then where does the one end 

 and the other begin? If we strip off the 

 leaves at the end of the leafy stem, and 

 make a longisection in the middle line, we 

 should find that the stalk which bears the 

 capsule is sim])ly stuck into the end of the 



Portion of mess pbnt of Mnitim afline, .sliowing two 

 sjKirogonia from one brancti, Ca]isnl(i at left fias just shed 

 the cap or opercuKim ; capsule at right is sliedding spores, 

 and tlie teetli are bristling at the month. Next to the riglit 

 is a young capsnle with calyptra still attached ; next "are 

 two spores enlarged. 



leafy stem, and is not organically connected with it. This is 

 tlie dividing line, then, between the gametophyte and the sporo- 

 phyte. We shall find that here the archegonium containing 



