Development of fronds demonstrates clonal propagation in W. microscopica.
(a) SEM micrograph of the vegetative pouch of a flowering frond (with furrow on
the dorsal surface (F)) showing remnants of stipes of two detached daughter fronds
(arrow) and a daughter frond (D)to the interior ofthe pouch.(b and c) Diagrammatic
representation and a longitudinal section of the frond along the antero-posterior
axis as captured under light microscope respectively of four subsequent generations
(I–IV) of fronds living in union, connected to the parent frond (I) with a stipe (Sp).
Arrow in ‘c’ represents the cross section through a scar on the ventral surface of
the frond. (d) Initial stages of development of a frond from its primordium. Arrow
indicates a periclinal division of an apical protodermal cell.