56 FLOWERLESS PLANTS 



often rather difficult to discover owing to their 

 pale browTi colour, which blends with the tone 

 of the ground. Compared with the barren 

 shoots the fertile ones are comparatively short, 

 but they are ver}- sturdj' in habit. In character 

 they are quite soft, pale in colour, and have 

 little or no chlorophyll. All the energ}^ which 

 they require arises from the roots, which all 

 through the previous summer store away the 

 food materials elaborated b}' the green sterile 

 shoots. The shoot is surmounted by a cone, 

 which is composed of compact six-sided patches. 

 As the development proceeds, however, it is 

 seen that these parts separate, so that each 

 patch is found to be borne on the end of a 

 stalk. 



On the underside of the scales are borne 

 the spore cases. During a dry day the spores 

 may be shaken out in great quantities on the 

 hand, or, better still, on a piece of white paper. 

 Seemg that these spores are amongst some of 

 the most curious objects in the natural world, 

 they are worth a small description. A few 

 scattered on a glass shde and examined even 

 with a low-power lens will at once arrest the 

 attention of the most indifferent. 



