Review

A Gargantuan task has been accomplished: here is a complete survey of the spores of representatives of all genera of ferns and fern allies, studied with SEM and TEM. Some of the pictures have already been published in previous works of the two authors, of which Lugardon’s work has mainly been published in French; many of Tryon’s SEM pictures have appeared Tryon & Tryon (1982). In the Introduction a condensation is given of all Lugardon’s extensive studies on sporogenesis, with some new additions (e.g., spherules, p. 9). Many of his excellent, detailed micrographs are used in order to describe spore wall development in all main groups of ferns and fern allies. The section on evolutionary levels of sporoderm organization treats fern characters in a very general way and on a family level. The terms primitive, derived, and specialized are used to indicate different levels of organization of the spore wall.