294 



SPOROPHYTE OF ANTHOCEROS 



It is evident that this sporophyte would become a self-support- 

 ing plant if its foot should reach through the gametophyte and 

 absorb substances from the soil. In comparing the sporophyte 



Fig. 199. Fig. 200. 



Fig. 199. Section of a young sporophyte of Anthoceros emerging from 

 the involucre-like outgrowth of the thallus— .?^, dome-shaped spore form- 

 ing layer of cells; ch, chlorenchyma with stomata; b, foot or absorbing region; 

 c, region of growth. At right, surface view of stoma. 



Fig. 200. A common moss, Funaria: A, two plants with root-like rhi- 

 zoids at base and radially arranged leaves. Rising above the leaves are 

 the stalks or setae and capsules of two sporophytes. B, magnified view of 

 a plant, showing the early appearance of the sporophytes as a delicate stalk 

 still covered by the enlarging archegonium or calyptra. C, a plant bearing 

 antheridia in a rosette of leaves at apex of stem. D, enlarged view of the 

 upper portion of the sporophyte, showing the twisting of the stalk that assists 

 in sifting the spores through the fringe of teeth, peristome, that encircles the 

 mouth of the capsule. 



in forms like Ricciocarpus, Marchantia and the leafy hepatics 

 with Anthoceros, we see that it has undergone a gradual evo- 

 lution and has finally reached a point where it only needs to 



