156 Campbell . — The Gametophyte and 
finally succumb. Bruchmann found two complete sporophytes attached to 
the same gametophyte in B . lunana , but the writer found no such cases in 
the specimens of B. obliquum that were examined. 
There is no question that the vascular system in the young sporophyte 
of B. obliquum is composed exclusively of leaf- and root-traces. No 
cauline stele is present, and in this it agrees with Ophioglossum moluccanum 
and the Marattiaceae, especially Danaea} 
The embryos of B. Lunar ia and B. virginianum differ greatly from 
each other and also from B. obliquum . In the former, according to 
Bruchmann, the early divisions are arranged quadrant-fashion, and the 
embryo is globular. No definite sequence could be made out in the sub- 
sequent divisions, and the embryo retains its globular form, with no trace 
of the primary organs, which are very late in developing. The root is 
the first organ to develop, but it is not quite clear from Bruchmann’s 
account as to just when and where the root apex is differentiated. The 
sporophyte, when it breaks through the prothallial tissue, consists of little 
more than the root and foot. A little later the stem apex is developed in 
a cleft between the base of the root and the foot. The stem apex remains 
very inconspicuous, and the first eight to ten leaves are reduced to mere 
scales, and it is several years before the first functional leaf appears above 
ground. 
In B. virginianum the cotyledon is functional, and even better 
developed than in B. obliquum. A large root and massive foot are present, ; 
but there is no suspensor, and the cotyledon and root- make a sharp angle 
with each other, and the root is not endogenous in origin. The conspicuous 
sheath found in the cotyledon of B. obliquum is not found in B. virginianum . 
It is very evident, then, that B. obliquum differs in very essential 
respects from the two other species that have been studied. Of greatest 
importance are the suspensor, the endogenous origin of the root, and the 
strongly bipolar arrangement of cotyledon and root. There is thus 
a marked resemblance on the one hand to Ophioglossum moluccanum , and 
on the other to the Marattiaceae. The presence of a suspensor is shared 
with Helminthostachys , 2 which on the whole among the Ophioglossaceae 
seems to be most nearly related to the Marattiaceae. Of the latter Danaea 
closely resembles B. obliquum , both in the presence of a suspensor, and in 
the general structure of the young sporophyte. The genus Macroglossum 
also possesses a conspicuous suspensor. 
Summary and Conclusion. 
1. The gametophyte and sexual organs of Botrychium obliquum do not 
differ essentially from those of the other species of Botrychium. 
1 Mr. Baas-Becking, who is now studying the development of the young sporophyte, has found 
that the second root originates exactly as in Danaea. 2 Lang : loc. cit. 
