Figure 4.

Cryo-scanning electron micrographs of freeze-fractured moss sporophytes: Physcomitrella patens (a,b); Physcomitrium pyriforme (c,d); Lyellia crispa (e,f). (a,c) Young sporophytes with liquid-filled (asterisk) intercellular spaces. (e) Gas (arrowed) gradually replaces their initially liquid-filled content following stomatal opening, as evidenced by the presence of intercellular spaces only partially filled with liquid (asterisk in f). Liquid is first lost from the substomatal cavities (b; S, stoma) until the entire intercellular space system becomes gas-filled (d). Scale bars: (c,d) 100 µm; (a,e) 50 µm; (b,d) 20 µm.