102 
Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. 1, No. 6 
MOSSES; ILLUSTRATIVE SAMPLES. 
W. A. Kellerman. 
[This article was prepared as a suggestion for the Ohio Schools, and 
is issued simultaneously as No. 17 of the University Burletin (Series 
5.) A wide distribution is advisable and it seems desirable to issue it 
here also. Ohio teachers, pupils and amateurs will, it is hoped, become 
more interested in our bryological flora ] 
The samples on the accompanying attached sheet are intended to 
illustrate the kind of material to be collected, and the method of label- 
ling and mounting the specimens, for the Herbarium. It will be noticed 
that most of the specimens are in “fruit,” which is the popular name 
for the “capsule” that terminates the “se-ta,” or slender stem. A 
delicate cap called the “ ca-lyp-tra,” may usually be seen, completely 
or partially covering the capsule before it is fully mature. The terminal 
portion of the capsule, called lid or “ o-per-cu-lum,” often drops off when 
maturity is reached; in this manner the “spores” or microscopical 
non-sexual reproductive bodies produced 
within, are allowed to escape. The mouth 
or opening of the spore case (capsule) is 
surrounded by a row of slender teeth, called 
collectively the “ per-i-stome ;” this may 
be clearly seen with the aid of a lens after 
the ripe operculum is removed. The ac- 
companying diagrammatic figures illus- 
trate the parts just mentioned. 
The life history, or cycle of development, 
of our common Mosses may be briefly 
sketched as follows: When the spores 
germinate a slender branching tube, or 
alga-like filament, appears which has been 
designated the “ pro-to-ne-ma.” This con- 
tains chlorophyll ; it grows in moist pro- 
tected places, and here and there develops 
root-like threads, called “ rhi-zoids,” which 
anchor it to the soil. “ flem-mae ” or buds also appear on the proto- 
nema and these develop into the upright clustered stems that bear the 
leaf-like structures. At the apex of the “ ac-ro-car-pous ” mosses, and 
from the sides in “ pleu-ro-car-pous ” species, there are formed the 
organs for sexual reproduction, namely, “ an-ther-id-i-a ” and “arch- 
e-go-ni-a;” these are surrounded by a cluster of leaf-like bracts, called 
Fig. 1 . — A common Moss (M) bearing fruit and <77/.); one capsule is old, one fresh, one 
immature and covered by the calyptra {cal.) ; the teeth {t) of the peristome (/), and a leaf (/)* 
magnified, are also shown. 
