ANATOMY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE FERN SPOROPHYTE

Recent research on the developmental anatomy and morphology of the fer n sporophyte is reviewed, Detailed histological and experimental studi es of the organization of the fern shoot apical meristem have reconfir med the recently controversial role of the shoot apical cell as the si ngle apical initial of the meristem. The shoot apical meristem is neve rtheless an anatomically and functionally complex structure with a str ongly zoned cytohistological organization. Fern shoot apex organizatio n can be compared with that of seed plants. The control of leaf initia tion and phyllotaxy remains poorly understood, Studies differ as to wh ether leaf initiation in ferns involves one leaf mother cell or a mult icellular region of the shoot apex. The concept of non-appendicular fr onds is refuted for living ferns. The later developmental changes in t he determinate leaf apical and marginal meristems of the leaf primordi um form an area that is still largely unexplored but could be investig ated by methods similar to those used to study shoot and root apices.