Abstract

Along with the studies on the spore germination of Haplomitrium rotundifolium (Yang 1966, 1967), the authors attempted the spore germination of H. blumii in March 1967. The former resulted in a leafy gametophyte from its spore germination in six months, but the latter failed to proceed at the same pace. A previous study (Yang 1967) showed the spores of H. blumii exhibited normal or rather rapid germination, resulting in a 2-4-celled stage in four days after sowing of the spores. But upon reaching the globose stage their growth became retarded and showed no indication of further development at all. Further observations, however, revealed that cultures of H. blumii, after a period of retardation, when treated with a fresh nutrient solution fortnightly gave rise to a triangular protonemata and was transformed into a thizomatous-branching stage. After another six months or so of transformation and development, the sporelings ultimately gave rise a leafy gametophyte stage, similar to the sporeling development of H. rotundifolium (Yang 1967). The present paper reports, in detail, the results obtained from observations made during the course of this study.