90 



THE OPHIOGLOSSALES 



Mr. C. S. Morris, of this species and also of a broad-leaved form from Ceylon, 

 probably O. reticulatum, showed that the same characters prevail in the species he 

 examined as in 0. vulgatum. It therefore seems likely that all species of Euophio- 

 glossum agree in the main in the structure of the stem apex and the development 

 of their tissues. 



We have seen that in the young sporophyte the stem apex is completely inclosed 

 in a small cavity formed by the hood-like stipular sheath of the youngest leaf. This 

 condition, once established, is permanent (fig. 56) and there is no essential difference 

 in the appearance of the stem apex between a young plant in vs^hich two or three 



Fig. 56. 



Longitudinal sections of an older sporophyte of Ophiogloaum moluccanum, showing arrangement of 

 vascular bundles; x, stem apex; s/i, young sporophylls. D shows apical region more enlarged. 



leaves have been developed and the full-grown sporophyte. The stem apex is of 

 limited extent, crowded in between the bases of the young leaves, and in 0. moluc- 

 canum the single apical cell is of the same form as that which was found in the early 

 condition of the young bud; i. e., in longitudinal section it is four-sided, with a 

 broad base and a narrower outer face. According to Holle (Holle 1), the apical 

 cell in 0. vulgatum is pointed below; but Rostowzew (Rostowzew 2) in his figures 

 shows the same form as the apical cell in 0. moluccanum. It is not at all impossible, 

 however, that both forms may occur, as in cross-sections the apical cell in O. mol- 

 uccanum may be either three-sided or four-sided (figs. 39 and 56, D). The apical 



