Features of Egg Cells of Living Representatives of Ancient Families of Ferns

Examination of two species of osmundaceous ferns, two speciesof marattialean, and one dipterid, all representative of fernswith a long fossil history, has shown that the egg cells possessnumerous large amyloplasts. The nuclei of these egg cells alsoproduce no vesicular or sheet-like protrusions during maturation.In these respects the egg cells of the ferns examined differsharply from those of more recent ferns such as Pteridium andDryopteris. The significance of these findings is discussed. Egg cells, amyloplast, Macroglossum, Todea, Osmunda, Dipteris