He left Algae and Fungi (with the exception of the Characeae) alone, and it is his work on the Bryophyta and Pteridophyta that concerns us. For information on his views on these plants we are dependent on his paper on Salvinia and Azolla and on the Notulae, put together as I have said from his notes after his death, and not intended for publication in this form. But there is no difficulty in getting a clear grasp of his point of view. This was a mistaken one—an attempt to bring into line the reproduction of the gametophyte of Bryophytes, the sporophyte of Vascular Cryptogams, and the flowering plant with its flower and fruit. It is easy to be wise after the event. In these comparisons Griffith belonged to his time with a much wider field of personal observation than most possessed.
Plate XVI
From Griffith's Notulae
Median section of the ovule of Cycas
Nucellar apex of Cycas with pollen chamber and pollen grains
We must bear in mind that at the time when Griffith worked no idea of the sexual and asexual alternating generations in Pteridophytes had been gained, although the prothallia had been observed preceding the growth of the plant in Equisetum and Ferns. It was not till some years after Griffith's death that fuller facts as to the sexual organs were obtained and led to the right comparisons.