VASCULAR CRYPTOGAMS 



Fig. 64, 

 ^hylhtnt 

 (x 120), 



Zealand ; Hymenophyl- 

 lum and Trichomanes 

 nearly 100 species each', 

 exceedingly delicate and 

 graceful ferns, growing 

 mostly on the trunks of 

 trees and damp rocks, 

 often within reach of the 

 spray of waterfalls, in the 

 moister and warmer parts 

 of the globe. The smaller 

 species of Hymfenophyl- 

 lum are known as ' filmy 

 ferns.' The Hymeno- 

 phyllacese may be re- 



vl, germinating spore and protliaUium of //j-^wm;- girded aS the simplest 



/ft ^'-P' ■'^'^s^^ '" development of prothaiiium and are probablv the oldcst 



(After Luerssen.) ^ -' 



family of ferns, and pos- 

 sibly form a connecting link be- 

 tween the Muscineae and the Vas- 

 cular Cryptogams. 



Literature. 



Mettenius — Ueber die Hymenophyl- 

 laceen, 1864. 



Janczewski and Rostafinski — (Prothai- 

 iium) Mem. Soc. Nat. Sc. Cher- 

 bourg, xix., 1875. 



Goebel — (Germination) Ann. Jard. Bot. 

 Buitenzorg, vii. , 1887, p. I7. 



Prantl — Untersuchungen zur Morpho- 

 logiederGefasskryptogamen, Heft i. 



Bower — Annals of Botany, vol. i., 1887, 

 pp. 183 and 269. 



Order 5. — Osmundace^. 



The prothaiiium of the Os- 

 mundaceae is characterised by its 

 strong tendency to propagate itself 

 vegetatively, by means of adventi- 

 tious shoots, and is commonly 

 dioecious, springing directly from 

 -Prothaiiium of o««KKrf<r the spore. It is usually ribbon- 

 >.ds; '^■.growinrpoSJ.'^VAfter Shaped, With a wcll-defined midrib 



Goebel.) 



