Duration of Viability of Spores of the Osmundaceae
1951; American Fern Society; Volume: 41; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1545589
ISSN1938-422X
Autores Tópico(s)Bryophyte Studies and Records
ResumoThe viability of the spores of the Osmundaceae is considered to be of short duration, as seems to be the case generally with chlorophyll-bearing spores. Under ordinary conditions of keeping spores this is undoubtedly true; the viability is measured in days and weeks rather than in months and years, as may be the case with many spores without chlorophyll. However, Lagerberg' found that the spores of Osmunda regalis L. may be viable for two months; and Gerhardt2 gave the results of some tests made on spores of 0. regalis, but did not state the conditions under which the spores were kept. He found that the germination time increased with the age of the spores: spores three days old germinated in one day; 34 days old in four days; 130 days old in seven days; 150 days old in 20 days; and no germination in 225 days. In the early summer of 1947, when some plans for an extensive study of the gametophyte of the Osmundaceae required viable spores in the autumn, it seemed desirable to try to keep spores by the method of refrigeration which has been successful with pollen grains. To obtain a later collection than might be available to the author, fertile fronds of O. Claytoniana L. were sent June 12, 1947 by Dr. Hannah Croasdale, from Hanover, New Hampshire to Woods Hole, Massachusetts. They arrived in fresh condition wrapped in damp paper toweling and in a cardboard box; they were at once put into an electric refrigerator. Some fertile pinnules of 0. regalis collected
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