50 



OUTLINES OF PLANT LIFE. 



Fig. 46 — A , two capsules of Bryiim ; from the right-hand one the Hd has fallen, show- 

 ing the teeth. Magnified 5 diam. B, four gametophyte shoots of Splachnutit am- 

 jiuUaceufJt^ bearing four sporophytes. Natural size. C, a capsule of one of the 

 same sporophytes, showing enlarged apophysis, a, below the spore case, s. Mag- 

 nified 10 diam. ZJ, capsule of Sfilachnum iuteum, with umbrella-like apophysis, a, 

 below spore case, s. Magnified 2 diam. 



required to supply each spore. 

 The foot, being in close contact 

 with the tissue of the gameto- 

 phyte, acts as an absorbing organ, 

 receiving food solutions from it. 

 The sporophyte thus lives, in 

 part at least, as a parasite upon 

 the gametophyte. 



In some mosses there is a tendency 

 to increase the nutritive work of the 

 sporophyte by developing at the top 

 of the stalk, below the spore case, a 

 mass of green tissue. In Bryum [A, 

 fig. 46) this gives the capsule a pear- 

 shape, while in Splachnum (B, C, D, 

 fig. 46) it is so far developed as to ex- 

 ceed the spore case. In some species 

 it is expanded into a miniature um- 

 brella which, one can imagine, might 

 readily become divided into leaves. 



The intimate attachment of 



'°««r;^J™°fa»?.°™^c?lumdS^;'y-^ sporophyte to gametophyte con- 

 foot, embedded in gametophyte .stem; .._ ., 1 J *. ii, ^' c r ii 

 s, seta (cells not Ihown) ; Ifs, spore tlHUeS thrOUghoUt the life of the 



Sfie<i8o'diam°-ATerKien1tztGeriol! former. Sometimes the gameto- 



