CHAPTER XXVII. 



FERNS CONTINUED. 



Gametophyte of ferns. 



549. Sexual stage of ferns. — We now wish to see what the 

 sexual stage of the ferns is like. Judging from what we have 

 found to take place in the liverworts and mosses we should infer 



Fig i„7. 

 Prothallium of fern, under side, showing rliizoids, antheridia scattered among and near 

 them, and the archegonia near the sinus. 



that the form of the plant which bears tlie sexual organs is de- 

 veloped from the spores. This is true, and if wc sliould examine 

 old decaying logs, or decaying wood in damp places in the near 



262 



