3. Show how the spore-producing plant of a fern is attached to the prothallus, and trace the early development of the former. 4. Make a list of the ferns which you have seen growing wild, and state exactly in what kinds of places they were growing. 5. Make experiments to prove that the prothallus of a fern is capable of manufacturing starch. 6. Make drawings of the spore-bearing leaves of all the ferns you can find, marking in each case the position of the spore-groups. 7. In what situations have you found horsetails growing? What other plants were growing near? 8. What is the difference between a seed and a spore? 9. Describe the situation in which the main stem of the bracken is found, its mode of growth, and the simpler facts of its structure. (1904) 10. In what respects do you consider the rhizome of a fern (a) similar; (b) dissimilar to the root of a tree? (Certificate, 1905) 11. Where are the spores of a fern formed, and how are they dispersed? What do they produce on germination? (1905) [Pg 199] CHAPTER XI. MOSSES, MUSHROOMS, AND MOULDS. 40. LIVERWORTS AND TRUE MOSSES. 1. A common liverwort.—Look along the sides of a brook or a well, and try to find a flat green plant with numerous lobed and overlapping branches. Each branch is perhaps half an inch across. This is one of the commonest liverworts (Pellia). Notice the prominent midrib running along each branch. In spring, observe the “frilled” appearance of the end, caused by the small new branches. Pull the plant up, and notice that it is attached to the soil by a large number of fine hairs which spring from the lower surface of the midrib. In February, or March, examine the upper surface of the growing plant with a lens, and notice the small, dark-green balls, mounted on short, thick stalks. Examine these at intervals until May, and notice that the stalks then grow rapidly until they are two or three inches long. Each is white, and still bears the black ball (the capsule) on its summit. When the stalk is full-grown, the capsule opens—its wall splitting into four parts—to liberate the spores. How soon, after the liberation of the spores, do the capsule and its stalk die down? 2. A common moss.—Separate a single plant from a tuft of the common moss (Funaria) which grows, almost everywhere, on the ground and on walls. Notice that the plant consists of a stem perhaps half [Pg 200] an inch high, thickly covered with small simple green leaves. The moss is fixed in the soil by a tuft of fine hairs. On some of the plants notice a thin stalk (about half an inch long) springing from the top of the stem; and on the end of the stalk an ovoid capsule or spore-box. In cases where the stalk is not yet full-grown, notice that the capsule is covered by a conical hood, somewhat like a candle-extinguisher.