=495. Buds, or gemmæ, of marchantia.=—But there is another
way in which marchantia multiplies itself. If we examine the upper
surface of such a plant as that shown in fig. 268, we shall see that
there are minute cup-shaped or saucer-shaped vessels, and within them
minute green bodies. If we examine a few of these minute bodies with
the microscope we see that they are flattened, biconvex, and at two
opposite points on the margin there is an indentation similar to that
which appears at the growing end of the old marchantia thallus. These
are the growing points of these little buds. When they free themselves
from the cups they come to lie on one side. It does not matter on what
side they lie, for whichever side it is, that will develop into the
lower side of the thallus, and forms rhizoids, while the upper surface
will develop the stomates.
Leafy-stemmed liverworts.
=496.= We should now examine more carefully than we have done
formerly a few of the leafy-stemmed liverworts (called foliose
liverworts).
[Illustration: Fig. 269.
Section of thallus of marchantia. _A_, through the middle portion; _B_,
through the marginal portion; _p_, colorless layer; _chl_, chlorophyll
layer; _sp_, stomate; _h_, rhizoids; _b_, leaf-like outgrowths on
underside (Goebel).]
=497. Frullania= (Fig. 32).—This plant grows on the bark of
logs, as well as on the bark of standing trees. It lives in quite dry
situations. If we examine the leaves we will see how it is able to do
this. We note that there are two rows of lateral leaves, which are very
close together, so close in fact that they overlap like the shingles
on a roof. Then, as the creeping stems lie very close to the bark of
the tree, these overlapping leaves, which also hug close to the stem
and bark, serve to retain moisture which trickles down the bark during
rains. If we examine these leaves from the under side as shown in fig.
34, we see that the lower or basal part of each one is produced into a
peculiar lobe which is more or less cup-shaped. This catches water and
holds it during dry weather, and it also holds moisture which the plant
absorbs during the night and in damp days. There is so much moisture in
these little pockets of the under side of the leaf that minute animals
have found them good places to live in, and one frequently discovers
them in this retreat. There is here also a third row of poorly
developed leaves on the under side of the stem.
=498. Porella.=—Growing in similar situations is the plant known
as porella. Sometimes there are a few plants in a group, and at other
times large mats occur on the bark of a trunk. This plant, porella,
also has closely overlapping leaves in rows on opposite sides of the
stem, and the lower margin of each leaf is curved under somewhat as in
frullania, though the pocket is not so well formed.
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