Comparative Studies of Spermatogenesis in the Bryopsida. II. Blepharoplast Morphology in Archidium tenerrimum Mitt.

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Abstract
A micrographic and diagrammatic representation of blepharoplast structure in the pygmy moss Archidium tenerrimum Mitt. (Bryopsida: Archidiales) is presented. The morphology of the blepharoplast conforms generally to that of Funaria, each having the open-aperturate type of spline. The Archidium spline comprises 24 microtubules at its widest region. Flanked on the right side by six microtubules, the aperture of the spline is two microtubule-diameters wide over most of its length, increasing to three for a short distance at the anterior end. The multilayered structure exhibits three rather than four strata. Much of the right-lateral margin of the lamellar strip extends beyond the spline for a distance of up to 90 nm. The basal bodies are unequal in length. The posterior basal body is highly unusual in that the forward-extending central hub terminates at approximately the same level as that of the anterior basal body. In overall length, the posterior badal body measures 5 µm and is about four times longer than the anterior basal body. Beneath the blepharoplast the wide anterior tip of the nucleus lies juxtaposed to the truncated posterior end of the lamellar strip and subtending mitochondrion.