MOSS AND FERN REPRODUCTION David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D. Professor of Biology and Chemistry University of Cincinnati Clermont College Batavia OH 45103
"Fruiting" Moss	rvsd 23 Mar '94, 27 Mar'95, 20 Mar 96, 27 Mar 00, 27 Mar 01 This page has been accessed  times since 27 March 2001.	Antheridial Head, 40x

See Young, Botany Coloring Book, plates 54, 76, 79.
(Hand out Wet Mount Prep, if not previously given.)
 
 

MATERIALS: Freshly collected Ebony Spleenwort dH20 in dropper bottle scalpel or razor blade microscope slides cover slips

PREPARED SLIDES (from Carolina Biological): B 361b Moss antheridium, l.s. B 363 Moss archegonium, l.s. B 410 Fern prothallia, antheridia & archegonia B 415 Fern prothallium with young sporophyte

I.
Make a wet mount of sori: press freshly collected Ebony Spleenwort fertile leaflet (with sori) in H₂O, scrape sporangia into H₂O, place coverslip over it, tap gently to suspend, draw at specified power of magnification:

View 1: Intact sporangium, annulus, enclosed spores, 100x

View 2: Opened sporangium, extended annulus, associated membrane, individual spores, 100x

View 3: Single spore: illustrate a single spore in detail, 400x
 

II.
Make illustrations of each of these prepared slides, label structures as listed. If properly planned, all illustrations from a given slide can be drawn on a single page, but make them as large as will fit. Note similarities and differences between the mosses and ferns.

Moss antheridium (male gametangium): Slide B 361b
View 1. overview showing entire antheridial head, haploid leafy gametophyte, 40x
View 2. an enlarged antheridium with sperm cells, 100x

Moss archegonium (female gametangium): Slide B 363
View 1. overview of entire head, show relationship of archegonia, 40x
View 2. an enlarged archegonium, label stalk, neck cells, egg, 100x

Fern antheridium and archegonium on a prothallium (gametophyte) Slide B 410:
View 1. an entire prothallium, showing rhizoids and archegonia, 40x
View 2. antheridium detail with sperm cells, 400x
View 3. archegonium with neck cells, 400x

Fern prothallium with young sporophyte, slide B415, 40x
prothallium (gametophyte = haploid), antheridia, sporophyte (diploid), root, foot, frond (leaf), vascular tissue