INTRODUCTION. 1 1 



Spores. — As said before, spores are the representatives of 

 seeds in the higher plant-life. Through their medium the 

 continuity of the species are kept up, each after its own kind, 

 and as the tree is known by its fruit, so the spores are the 

 principal medium to identify to what species they belong. They 

 form a principal character of classification. 



It is not such an easy matter to differentiate the different 

 parts of a spore as it is a seed, on account of its minuteness. 

 It must be done with the compound microscope, and under 

 inconveniences, which you do not find necessary for a casual 

 view of a seed. The outer covering of a spore is called the 

 epispore, and is rough or smooth. They are of different shapes, 

 oval, orbicular, angular, etc. 



As for the germination of spores, nothing is very definite 

 about that secret process. To form a mycelium from spores, 

 there is not the least doubt it is not formed from a single spore, 

 but from a mass of spores. There is a wonderful provision 

 made for the dissemination of spores, equally as wonderful as 

 the seeds of higher plants. The spiral threads of the Trichise 

 are elastic and when ripe throw the spores to the four winds of 

 heaven. You will find that provision in many instances in the 

 fungi family. In case of the Sphaerobolus Stellata, a nidularian 

 fungi, which when touched or fully ripe the star-like limbs 

 open or are inverted and expel the sporangia with such force 

 to a considerable distance from its parents. I frequently 

 observed its peculiarity while sitting on a decayed log where 

 they grew. The puff-balls disseminate the spores by their 

 rotundity. When ripe they loosen from the earth, are wafted 

 over the rough surface of the earth, and by a small orifice or 

 rupture of the covering, the spores are scattered to new 

 territory. Insects are also great disseminators of spores, even 

 as they are useful in cross-fertilizing of the higher plants, so 

 even are they useful in keeping up the fungi world — " nothing 

 is created in vain." 



