• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 1994

Spore morphology of 14 species of Ophioglossaceae is examined, and descriptions and key based on spore morphology are provided. In addition, spores of one species of Angiopteris and three species of Osmunda are examined for comparision with those of Ophioglossaceae. Spore shape at proximal face is sub triangular or triquete in Botrychium and circular in Ophiog~ lossum, Angiopteris and Osmunda. Based on the wall sculpturing patterns, three groups can be recognized within Botrychium, and the differences of wall sculpturing among these groups are smaller as compared to those among Botrychium, Ophioglossum, Osmunda and Angiopteris. This result supports the previous infrafamilial system of Clausen, which was mainly based on the characteristics of vernation, habit, fertile and sterile segments of the leaf, and gametophyte. Spores of nine species of Ophioglossum, which are circular in proximal face and fossulate or foveolate in wall sculpturing, are quite uniform as compared to those of Botrychium. Therefore they should be kept under a single genus rather than split into four genera suggested by Nishida (1952).(1952).