Mar 16, 2012 · Various plants and fungi have evolved ingenious devices to disperse their spores. One such mechanism is the cavitation-triggered catapult of fern sporangia. The spherical sporangia enclosing the spores are equipped with a row of 12 to 13 specialized cells, the annulus.

In ferns, sporangia are typically found on the abaxial surface (underside) of the leaf and are densely aggregated into clusters called sori. Sori may be covered by a structure called an indusium. Some ferns have their sporangia scattered along reduced leaf segments or along (or just in from) the margin of the leaf.

Mar 16, 2012 · Various plants and fungi have evolved ingenious devices to disperse their spores. One such mechanism is the cavitation-triggered catapult of fern sporangia. The spherical sporangia enclosing the spores are equipped with a row of 12 to 13 specialized cells, the annulus.

Fern sporophytes are composed of megaphylls, often pinnately compound fronds that emerging as fiddleheads in the spring. Sporangia are produced in clusters called sori (sorus, singular) on the fronds.

Sep 24, 2010 · Each sporangium is a capsule that contains spores. They are usually aggregated into clusters called sori. The position and arrangement of the sporangia are very important for the identification of ferns. Fronds that have sporangia on their underside are fertile, and those that don't are sterile.

Anther of seed plant is a homologous organ of the sporangium in fern. Recently, a fluorescence imaging method has been successfully used in Arabidopsis, showing clear cell lineages during...

Ferns reproduce by means of spores that develop within a spherical sporangium (figure 1). The small size of the spores (less than 50 µm) allows them to be carried by air currents over great distances.

Mar 16, 2012 · Various plants and fungi have evolved ingenious devices to disperse their spores. One such mechanism is the cavitation-triggered catapult of fern sporangia. The spherical sporangia...

May 18, 2017 · The sporangium of the fern has a ring of cuboid-shaped cells around the outside called the ‘annulus’’; each of the cells is filled with water, which is lost to evaporation when the environment is dry. The loss of water causes the cells to …

One such dispersal mechanism is the cavitation-triggered catapult of fern sporangia. The sporangia open when dehydrating and use the stored elastic en-ergy to power a fast closure motion that ultimately ejects the spores. The beauty of this dispersal mech-anism and its similarity with medieval catapults have not escaped notice (1).