Fig. 133. A Toadstool, showing the “cap” and “stalk.” Under the cap are the radiating gills, on which the spores are formed. Thread-like strands under the soil.
Even in the seaweeds, which may seem to have stems, you will find that such is not really the case. They have generally a flat body, which is thin at the edges, with a stronger mid-rib, and the flat edges get worn away in the older parts of the plant, and so leave the mid-rib looking like a stem, though it is not so really (see fig. 134).
Fig. 134. A Seaweed, showing the branched body, which is not divided into stem and leaves.
When we come to look for flowers or even spore capsules, we see still more clearly how simple these plants are; they have not nearly such a complicated history as the moss. For example, in the toadstools we find that there are many spores formed directly on its lower surface, on the “gills,” and these grow out to form new toadstool plants. You can see the spores if you cut off a toadstool or mushroom head which looks full grown and is quite expanded, and then lay it on a sheet of gummed paper over-night, with the gills downwards, and another beside it with the gills up. Next day you will find that the paper under the one where the gills were downwards is covered with radiating lines of spores, just as they fell from the gills, and repeating their pattern.