Spore Germination Patterns in the Ferns, Cyathea and Dicksonia

• Main Authors: HUCKABY, C. S., RAGHAVAN, V.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1981
• Subjects: Articles; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/47/3/397

Cell division patterns during germination of spores of Cyathea australis , C. cooperi and Dicksonia antarctica were examined by light microscopy of sectioned materials and by the scanning electron microscope. In C. australis and C. cooperi the rhizoid was traced to a small cell formed by an asymmetric division of the spore by a wall parallel to its equatorial plane. In contrast, the rhizoid was formed by a division of the spore parallel to its polar axis in D. antarctica . In spores of both genera, a second division wall oriented in a plane perpendicular to the first gave rise to the protonemal cell. Certain aspects of germination described here in spores of Cyathea and Dicksonia are in conflict with the published accounts of spore germination in these genera.