102 



HEART-KOT 



inado very nearly \i\) to the margin, so that in the resting 

 stage the finigus has the appearance shown in lig. 39. 



A very constant featui-e of the fructifications of this 

 species is the lioles in the sporophores. When the latter 

 encounter a small root or stick, or even a blade of grass, 

 they grow round it, leaving a hole such as those seen in 

 tig. 39. These holes differ from those made under similar 

 circumstances by most other fungi, by being siu-rounded by 



a reddish-brown ridge of sterile 

 tissue. This ridge forms one 

 of the most useful f eatm-es for 

 identification. Fig. 39 shows 

 the appearance of the lower 

 surface of the pores. It Avill 

 be seen that they vary from 

 circular to irregularly oval or 

 elliptical. Their width is 

 usually about 0-25 mm. 

 (^ Too in.), but may be any- 

 thing from 0*15 to 0-6 mm. 

 The pores are not fertile 



n^' 



Fig. 41. — Fonicti annosuti : A, 

 liymenial layer inside a pore ; a., a 

 young basidium with two sj)ores ; 

 6. , older Ijiisidium with four spores; through their wliolc length at 

 />.. paraphysis ( > 200) ; B single j ^. ^ ^ ^.. 



s))orc .showing attachment to basi- 

 dium ; h., basidium ; «/., sterigma ; fication grows older the upper 



6-e septum; .s/... basixliospore ( x -^^.^ ^^ ^^^^^ bccOmcS 



1000) ; c, ripe spores alter shedding. ^ ^ 



filled with hypliae, and only 



the lowermost 1 to 2 cm., i.e. the part nearest the openings, 



bears spores. Diu'ing the summer the ])ores lengthen and 



the fertile zone moves downwards. Fig. 38 shows the pores 



in longitudinal section ; two pieces of the fungus are here 



cut thrinigli. in caeii of wliieli two yeais" grovvtli can be 



distinguished. 



in tlie fertile region eaeli jiuie is liiK'd wilii the hymenium. 



a layer made uj) of bosidia and jjara physes . Fig. 41, a, 



shows this layer as seen in a longitudinal section of the 



poi'es. The Ijasidia arc 3(1- 4(1 /x long and 8-JO /x bi-oatl. 



Normally each beajs lour ,sj)<>i('s [h.), but ))asidia Avith two 



spores are frequent ((/.),an(l l)asidiawith three or five spores 



