PREFACE 



The increasing interest that has been developed in fungi dur- 

 ing the past few years, together with the fact that there is no guide 

 written in the English language to the modern classification of 

 the group and its extensive but scattered literature, has led the 

 writer to prepare this introduction for the use of those who wish 

 to know something of this interesting series of plants. 



With nearly a thousand genera of fungi represented in our 

 country alone, it was manifestly impossible to include them all in 

 a pocket guide. A line must be drawn somewhere, and it was 

 decided to include : (i) Conspicuous fleshy and woody fungi, (2) 

 The cup-fungi, since so little literature treating of American 

 forms was available, and (3) Genera containing parasitic species. 

 Most of the genera of the so-called Pyrenomycetes and many of 

 the saprophytic/wz7 iniperfecti are therefore omitted from special 

 consideration. 



It is hoped that for the groups treated, the synopses will be suf- 

 ficiently simple to enable the average student to distinguish gen- 

 erically the ordinary fungi that he is likely to find. In every 

 order, references to the leading systematic literature have been 

 freely given, in the hope that some will be encouraged to take up 

 the systematic study of some group and pursue it as exhaustively 

 as possible. With all the diversity of interesting lines of research 

 that are constantly opening before the student of botany of to-day, 

 there is none more inviting to a student, or better adapted to 

 bring into activity all the resources of his judgment, than the sys- 

 tematic study of the species of some limited group, provided this 

 is properly combined with a study of the morphology, develop- 

 ment, and ecologic relations of such a related series. With very 

 few exceptions, there is no group of fungi that is not in crying need 

 of thorough and original systematic study. 



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