| The search for the mysterious plant that produced this famous megaspore continues in various locations around the world, with particular attention given to a new Spermasporites site in eastern Greenland. |
| In sexual reproduction a diploid somatic cell, the megaspore mother cell, undergoes meiosis to produce four reduced megaspores. |
| The young sporophyte remains in physical contact with the megaspore and the enclosed female gametophyte tissue for some time. |
| In lily, all 4 megaspore nuclei are involved in the formation of the female gametophyte. |
| These final stages in development usually occur on the soil after the megaspore with the enclosed female gametophyte is shed from the megasporangium. |
| In Welwitschia also the megaspore is filled with prothallus-tissue, but single egg-cells take the place of archegonia. |
