Question

In Funaria
(a)Male and female reproductive organs are on different plants
(b)Male and female reproductive organ are on the same plant but different branches
(c)Male and female reproductive organs are on the same plant and same branch
(d)Reproduction is by asexual mode

Answer 1

Hint: These plants are monoecious and autoecious. It consists of antheridium (male reproductive structure) and archegonium (female reproductive structure).

Complete answer:
Funaria can be considered an autociously monoecious plant because the male (antheridium) and female (archegonium) reproductive structures develop on separate shoots of the same plant. Antheridia are borne on the main shoot of the plant whereas the female branch develops as a side shoot and grows more vigorously and becomes longer than the male branches.
It is a genus that contains approximately 210 species of moss. Funaria hygrometrica is the most known among other species. It is also called “cord moss” because of the twisted seta which is very hygroscopic and untwists when moist.

Additional information:
-Antheridium: The antheridia are mainly borne in clusters at the apex of the main axis. They bear a number of long multicel­lular hairs, called paraphyses that are intermingled. Both antheridia and paraphyses are surrounded by a large number of bract-like leaves forming a rosette called the perichaetium. A mature antheridium has a characteristic multicellular long stalk and a red or orange-colored club-shaped body.
-Archegonium: A mature archegonium mainly consists of a long stalk, a basal swollen venter, and an elongated neck. It also consists of a twisted and tubular neck that encloses 4 to 10 or more neck canal cells. The archegonial jacket is generally single-layered thick in the neck region, but it is double-layered in the region of the venter. The center contains an egg in the ventral canal cell.

So, the correct answer is option b. Male and female reproductive organs are on the same plant but different branches.

Notes: The liberated antherozoids are attracted chemotactically towards the archegonia. Antherozoids in large numbers enter the neck, but only one of them fuses with the egg nucleus and forms the diploid zygote. The mature sporophyte of Funaria is differentiated into certain main features: a foot, a long seta, and a pear-shaped capsule at the tip. Calyptra protects the capsule from drying and sheds prior to its dehiscence. The haploid spore is also the first cell of the gametophytic generation.