Liagoropsis — Doty and ABBOTT 
445 
broad. Assimilatory filaments thin, the cells 
cylindrical to obovate, frequently tipped with a 
hair, and then resembling those of Liagora 
rather than Nemalion. Terminal cells of vege- 
tative filaments not specially differentiated. Male 
gametes becoming spherical, produced (Fig. 5) 
in grapelike superficial clusters. Male and fe- 
male structures produced on the same or on 
different thalli. Carpogonial branch apparently 
a modified vegetative branch, or an outgrowth 
from the basal first or second cell of a vegetative 
system, or one member of a pair of branches 
arising (Figs. 6, 7) from the basal or second 
dichotomy in a vegetative branch, or in still 
other (but much more rare) cases a lateral 
branch of a vegetative system. In the order of 
these positions as given, the cell number in the 
carpogonial branch seems to decrease variably 
from eight to five cells. Carpogonial branches 
shorter than the vegetative branches near them 
and usually straight as in Nemalion rather than 
curved as usual in Liagora. Carpogonial branches 
usually with two (one to three) cells at the 
base (Fig. 6) similar to the other vegetative 
cells near them. Ffypogynous cells three to five, 
forming a stalk below the carpogonium. 
After fertilization the trichogyne separates 
from the zygote and withers away except at the 
base. The zygote itself does not always conspicu- 
ously divide transversely but produces promi- 
nent filaments (Figs. 8-10) rarely protruding 
horizontally from the carpogonial axes, usually 
protruding toward the thallus surface and often 
even nearly parallel to the trichogyne. Our ob- 
servations are in general agreement with those 
of Desikachary (1957) who illustrates this pro- 
cess well. In some cases it seemed that the more 
basal carpogonial protoplasm had become highly 
vacuolated, pushing the gonimoblast-forming 
cytoplasm out into the developing gonimoblast 
filament initials without a previous division of 
the zygote. In other cases the zygote cytoplasm 
seemed to have become divided after much of 
the cytoplasm had collected in the apex of the 
carpogonium under the separated trichogyne but 
before gonimoblast filaments appeared. Clearly 
in the latter case a sterile stalk cell is produced 
between the hypogynous cells and the gonimo- 
blast initial. Soon ( developmentally ) several 
more gonimoblast filaments are produced paral- 
lel to those first formed. 
The upper part of the carpogonial cytoplast 
was the only part seen giving rise to gonimo- 
blast filaments, whether or not the cell had di- 
vided into two cytoplasts following fertilization. 
Very rarely, however, in older stages it appeared 
that some gonimoblast filaments had their origin 
below the line above which one would say the 
dense cytoplasm would have aggregated and 
separated by cell division after fertilization typi- 
cally, but, in the poorly fixed material at hand, 
observations of a cytological nature could only 
lead to tentative conclusions. 
The gonimoblast filaments at maturity are 
pseudo-dichotomously divided, perhaps up to as 
many as four times. The individual segments 
are rather straight and uniformly diverging 
throughout, yet always directed toward the sur- 
face of the thallus (Figs. 11-14) so that the 
mature gonimoblast forms an inwardly pointing 
cone of rather closely placed, rather straight and 
free filaments. The terminal carposporangia bear 
but one spore each. In age the carpospores may 
be gone from the terminal cells of the first- 
formed erect filaments. The empty carposporan- 
gia then form an apically colorless central mass 
surrounded by younger, secondary gonimoblast. 
Desikachary (1957: figs. 1, 2, 4, 5) shows 
sterile or vegetative filaments arising from the 
base of some carpogonial branches. Neither he 
( 1962) nor we consider these to be sterile fila- 
ments produced as special branches in associa- 
tion with the reproduction process, but rather 
as less well-developed vegetative branches. In 
the various materials examined we have found 
no sterile filaments developed around the goni- 
moblast from either the carpogonial branch or 
from the surrounding vegetative cells as is the 
case in Trichogloea or Liagora. However, from 
the base of the carpogonial branch there develop 
rhizoids which run in straight courses away 
from the supporting cells. From some mature 
gonimoblasts such rhizoids were seen protrud- 
ing from the basal few cells in the carpogonial 
branch itself. We saw no such rhizoids arising 
from the carposporophyte. 
The thalli collected by the senior author ( Fig. 
3) were attached to stones and sunken logs in 
2-3 m of water off the mouth of a small stream 
near the village of Libog, Albay Province, Phil- 
ippines (13° 14' N; 123° 46' 8" E), V-19- 
1958. Hundreds of thalli could have been col- 
