SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS ON THE MEGASPOROCARPS OF AZOLLA FILICULOIDES

Azella filiculcides Lam. is primarily cultivated as a green manure for rice or as a food for animals during the present period. If care is not taken,Azolla crops will be destroyed by insects and disease in 3-5 days during the very hot weather of the summer, but the sporocarps of Azolla are the better materials which can pass the natural environmental disaster.This paper has primarily discussed the scanning electron microscopic observations on the megasporocarps and the massulae of microsporangium in Azolla filiculoides. The details have been recorded by photographs. It is con- sideredthat the adhesion between the surface of the megasporocarp and the massulae of the microsporangium is relative to the germination power of the megasporocarp. It is pointed out that the mycelia stuck to the megasporocarp might be one of the reasons causing Azolla crops to be destroyed by disease in the hot weather.