THE GERMINATION OF THE SPORES OF CONOCEPHALUM 
CONICUM 
Sister M. Ellen 
Introduction 
This work was undertaken in order to determine the time and the 
extent of the germination of the spores within the capsule of Conocephalum 
conicum (L.) Dumort. 
In 1895 Farmer (3) stated that the spores of this species germinate before 
leaving the capsule, but that the divisions of the spore do not occur so early 
as in Pellia, in which plant germination sometimes occurs even before the 
separation of the four spores of a tetrad. 
In 1903 Cavers (2) described the "mature spore" of Conocephalum as 
an ovoid mass of five or six cells. 
In 1905 BoUeter (i) reported that the divisions of the spores begin in 
the spring and that the mature spore" is many-celled. 
Material and Methods 
The plants used for these investigations were collected in the fall and 
spring of the years 191 8-19 and 1919-20 on a bluff in almost the extreme 
southwestern corner of the state of Wisconsin about three miles southwest 
of Sinsinawa Mound. 
The material used for the study of the spores and of their germination 
under normal conditions was collected beginning September i, 1918, and 
continuing at intervals of not more than two weeks until December 20. 
The collections were resumed on March 7, 191 9, and continued until April 
17, at which time spore dispersal had already begun. The sporophytes 
were put into the killing fluid either in the field or immediately after being 
brought into the laboratory. 
The most successful of the killing fluids used were Flemming's medium 
solution for the fall and early spring stages, and Flemming's strong solution 
for the later spring stages. The material was imbedded in 53° paraffin 
and microtome sections were made from seven to nine microns in thickness. 
All stages were studied from the fresh material as well as in prepared sections. 
Immediately after dispersal, some of the sporelings^ were sown in rain 
water in petri dishes and placed, some in a north exposure and others in a 
1 The multicellular structures resulting from the intra-capsular germination of the 
spores have been commonly referred to by previous writers as "spores" or "mature spores." 
They are, of course, strictly speaking, young gametophytes, and will be spoken of in the 
present paper as sporelings. 
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