Thallus structure of Funaria

                                         Funaria

It is the leafy bryophyta belongs to family funariaceae, order funariales and class music. The member is also known as Cord Moss(cord ie. rope like) , Little Goldilocks (golden hair like) etc.

The members of Funaria is a common terrestrial moss, commonly grow on moist ground and recently burnt lands (nitrogen rich soil ie. members are nitrophilous), on moist walls, crevices of rock, on tree trunks etc.

Plant structure:

The dominating plant generation is haploid gametophyte. The gametophyte has two phases ie,  a) A prostrate filamentous, ephemeral protonema and b) The erect, leafy and persistent gametophore.

The haploid spore germinates to a branched filamentous, prostrate, green protonema, on this protonema the erect gametophores are developed.

                                                The gametophore: 

Gametophore structure can be discussed under two points ie. morphology and anatomy,

Morphology:

The gametophore is about few cm. long (1-5), it consists of axis, leaves and rhizoids. 

Axis: The axis is slender, erect and branched. Branching is generally monopodial. The main axis and branches grow by terminal apical meristem cell.

Leaves: Leaves are ovate, green, sessile and develop spirally on the axis. The upper leaves are large and crowded and lower leaves are small and distant. Mature leaf has distinct mid rib.

Rhizoid: At the base of the axis, a lot of branched, multicellular rhizoids are available. The rhizoids are colourless or sometime brown in colour. The main function of rhizoid is anchorage the substratum and absorb water and nutrient. 

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Anatomy:

Axis or stem:

The transverse section of the stem or axis shows a very distinct layer of outer epidermis, middle cortex and central core. The epidermis is one cell layer thick, the cells are thin walled, small and contain chloroplast. Stomata is absent. Inside the epidermis, a multi layered cortex of parenchymatous tissues is present. It has two zones ie. outer thick-walled hypodermis tissue zone of 2-3 layered thick and inner cortex is multi-layered thin walled parenchymatous tissue zone. Young cortex bears chloroplast but mature one does not bear any chloroplast. Some times few leaf traces may also be found in cortex. The central core is composed of long, thin walled colourless parenchyma cells. This central core mainly helps in conduction of water minerals and organic food.

Leaves:

The cross section of the leaf shows a central multi cell layered, thin walled  mid-rib zone. The mid rib zone is conducting in nature. The wings of the lamina (leaf) are one celled thick and bearing chloroplast.