TEXTBOOK OF BOTANY 



The rhizoids are outgrowths from sarface cells of the stem, 

 chiefly from its lower part. Each rhizoid is a branching row 

 of cells. For the most part, the rhizoids grow downward into 

 the soil, anchoring the plant and absorbing from the soil the 

 water and other substances which the plant can use as food. 

 For the moss, as well as for most ferns and seed plants, the 

 soil is the source of supply of practically all the food that is 

 received from outside, excepting the carbon dioxid which 

 comes directly from the air. 



116. Sex Organs. — The sex organs of mosses are borne 

 in groups, in the midst of a cluster of leaves at the end either of 



the main stem or of 



:^i 



a branch. In some 

 mosses, male organs 

 {antherids) and fe- 

 male organs {arche- 

 gones) occur in the 

 same group ; in 

 other mosses they 

 are separate, but 

 groups of antherids 

 and groups of arche- 

 gones are borne on 

 different branches 

 of the same plant ; 

 and in still other 

 cases the separate 

 groups are produced 

 on different plants. 

 In Funaria the gen- 

 eral rule seems to 

 be that a group of 

 antherids appears at the end of the main stem (Fig. 43, C). 

 and a group of archegones at the end of a side branch ; but 

 sometimes the female branch is separated and becomes a 



Fig. 44. — A, a.a archegone of Funaria ; e, the 

 egg. B, an antherid. C, one of the hair-like 

 structures growing among the antherids. 



