| Usually the protonema is filamentous and ceases to be evident after the plants have developed. |
| Erect branches may arise from the protonema, and gemmae may be developed on it. |
| This tangled mass of green threads, called the protonema, is the first growth, from which the moss stems spring. |
| The protonema forms a flat, lobed, thalloid structure attached to the soil by rhizoids, and the plants arise from marginal cells. |
| Ultimately, the gametophyte grows from a small bud produced by a cell of the protonema that divides and differentiates. |
| In Ephemerum also we may probably regard the relation of the small plants to the protonema as a primitive one. |
