On Saprophytism and Mycorhiza in Hepaticae . 31 
It has long been known that in the Bog-mosses (Sphagnaceae) 
the capsule occasionally contains numerous small spores which to a 
greater or less extent replace the ordinary spores of the moss. 
To these small spores Schimper 1 gave the name “microspores,” his 
interpretation of these bodies, which has been copied into nearly 
all the text-books, being that they arise by continued division of the 
spore-mother-cells. According to Warnstorf, 2 the occurrence of 
these “microspores” is observed more frequently in the monoecious 
than in the dioecious species of Sphagnum, and he suggested that 
this might be a case of heterospory, analogous to that observed in 
certain Pteridophyta and all Spermaphyta, the “microspores” 
giving rise to the male plants, whilst the ordinary large spores 
produced the female plants. However, the observations of 
Nawaschin 3 showed that the “microspores” are produced by a 
parasitic fungus (Tilletia Sphagni), the mycelium of which ramifies 
through the sporogenous tissue of the capsule. 
Warnstorf’s statement that “microspores” were also observed 
by him in Pallavicinia Lyellii led the writer to examine this liver¬ 
wort, a few young capsules of which were found in Husnot’s 
“Hepaticae Galliae” (No. 167). The investigation of this material 
showed the presence of a fungus, and in some cases “micros.pores” 
were seen arising by abstriction from the fungal hyphae, so that 
here, as in the liverworts already referred to, these bodies are simply 
the conidia of a fungus. Fungal hyphae and spores were also 
in young capsules of Pallavicinia hibernica, material of which 
kindly sent by Mr. W. H. Pearson, of Manchester. 
It would therefore appear that in those cases where a fungus- 
body has been found to inhabit the sporogonium in Bryophyta, the 
relation between the fungus and the host-plant is simply that of 
parasitism. 
In certain mosses, as shown by the investigations of Haberlandt 1 
and of Brizi, 5 the rhizoids penetrate the decaying vegetable tissue 
1 Schimper, Versucli einer Entwickelungsgeschichte der Torf- 
moose, 1858, p. 54. 
2 Warnstorf, Zur Frage iiber die Bedeutung der bei Moosen 
vorkommeuden zweierlei Sporeii. Verhandl. d. botan. 
Vereins d. Prov. Brandenburg, 1886; Revue bryologique, 
1887, p. 15. 
3 Nawaschin, Ueber die Brandkraukheit der Torfmoose. 
Bulletin de l’Academie des Sci. de St.-Petersbourg. tome 
35, 1892, p. 531. 
4 Haberlandt, Beitrage zur Anatomie und Physiologie der 
Laubmoose. Jahrb. fur wissensch. Botanik, Baud 17, 1886, 
p. 476. 
4 Brizi, Contributo alio studio morfologico, biologico, e siste- 
matico delle Muscinee. Annuario del R. 1 st. Bot. di Roma, 
vol. 6, 1897. 
