FUNGI. 481 



In addition to their minute size, the spores of the fungi have been 

 shown to be able to keep their viability for several years under the most 

 adverse conditions. These facts will probably go far to account for the 

 wide distribution of many species of fungi, they being more cosmopolitan 

 in their distribution than almost any other group of plants. This being 

 the case we would naturally expect the fungous flora of an isolated region 

 such as Bermuda to be proportionately larger than that of the higher 

 plants, as seems to be the case so far as can be judged from the limited 

 observations made. 



The number of species occurring in any region would be limited, how- 

 ever, by the food supply, and since the fungi depend largely upon the 

 higher plants for their food, a region which contains a comparatively 

 small number of higher plants would of necessity show a relatively small 

 number of fungi since even the saprophytic fungi are often very selective 

 in their food habits. 



It is difficult to account for the occurrence of a number of European 

 species of fungi in Bermuda which have not been found elsewhere in North 

 America. If they had been introduced through the agency of man, it is diffi- 

 cult to understand why they have not been introduced into the mainland of 

 North America as well. This apparent discrepancy might be accounted 

 for by the incompleteness of our knowledge of the fungi of our own states, 

 owing largely to the minute size of the plants and the ease with which they 

 are overlooked. 



SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT. 



The fungi, like other plants, are divided into a number of main 

 groups and each group again subdivided into orders, families, genera and 

 species. This arrangement is based entirely upon those structural char- 

 acters which show natural relationship without regard to their habits of 

 life, so that the same group may contain either parasitic or saprophytic 

 species or both. In fact the same species may in exceptional cases appear 

 either as a parasite or as a saprophyte. 



In the present discussion, the fungi will be taken up in accordance 

 with their systematic arrangement, especial attention being given to those 

 species which are the cause of serious plant diseases. 



LOCAL WORK IN BERMUDA. 



The fungous flora of Bermuda has probably received less attention 

 than any other phase of the natural history of the islands, largely through 

 the misapprehension that there are few fungi there. While it is true that 

 the larger forms of fungi seem to be poorly represented from our own 

 brief experience the writer is inclined to believe that the number of 

 species of fungi occurring in Bermuda will eventually be found to be 

 surprisingly large. 



The first list of which we have any record is that of the Challenger 

 Expedition of 1873, in which twenty-four species were recorded. Pro- 

 fessor Farlow in the course of his visits to the islands has collected and 

 described a few additional species. About forty species were collected by 

 Dr. and Mrs. B. 0. Dodge in 1911, the largest collection of which we have 

 any knowledge up to that date. Scattering species have frequently been 

 brought in by collectors of flowering plants, including members of the 

 staff of the New York Botanical Garden. 



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