1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Acrogenae

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search

ACROGENAE (“growing at the apex”), an obsolete botanical term, originally applied to the higher Cryptogams (mosses and ferns), which were erroneously distinguished from the lower (Algae and Fungi) by apical growth of the stem. The lower Cryptogams were contrasted as Amphigenae (“growing all over”), a misnomer, as apical growth is common among them.