CHAPTER IX 



A MOSS 



114. Mosses. — Although none of them are large plants, 

 some of the mosses grow in such great numbers that they are 

 rather conspicuous features of the earth's vegetation. On the 

 whole, they have not been so successful in the struggle for 



Fig. 43. — A, Fmiaria hygrometrica: a, the sexual plant; b, the asexual 

 or spore-bearing plant, attached to the sexual plant. B, a single leaf of 

 Funaria. C, upper end of a male plant, showing how the sex organs are 

 borne. C after Sachs. 



existence as have the seed-bearing plants ; and perhaps this 

 is the reason why mosses have adapted themselves to condi- 

 tions that are not favorable for larger and more highly de- 

 veloped plants. Thus we find mosses in very cold regions 



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