MUCOR. 



[ 442 ] 



MUCORINI. 



seems very doubtful whether Hydrophora. 

 should be separated from Mucor. 



* Fertile filaments simjjle. 



1. M. mucedo, L. (figs. 500, 501). My- 

 celium byssoid, peridiole and spores globose, 

 at first white, ultimately blackish. (This 

 includes Ascophora Mucedo, Tode). Ex- 

 tremely common. Sowerby, Fungi, pi. 3/8. 

 fig. 6 ; Greville {Ascophora), Sc. Crypt. Fl. 

 pi. 269. 



2. M. caninus, Pers. Mycelium byssoid, 

 peridiole globose, ultimately 5^ellow or ferni- 

 ginous ; spore globose or elliptic. Very 

 common on excrement of dogs and cats in 

 wet weather. Grev. Sc. Crypt. Fl. pi. 305. 



3. M. fusiger, Lk. Mycelium byssoid. 

 Peridiole globose, ultimately black; spores 

 spindle-shaped. On decaying fungi. 



4. M. clavatus, Lk. " Mycelium byssoid. 

 Clavate apices of the fertile filaments simply 

 penetrating the globose peridiole ; spores 

 globose, at first white, then brown, at length 

 black.''* On rotten pears. (Possibly only a 

 state of M. Mucedo or the following.) 



5. M. amethysteus. Mycelium thick, 

 white, closely interwoven. Peridiole at first 

 white, then pale yellow, then crystalline and 

 ])ure violet, finally violet-black or brownish ; 

 " spore globose, filled wdth globose spori- 

 dioles(?)." Fertilefilament 1-40" high. On 

 rotten pears with the foregoing. 



6. M. delicatulus. Berk. Mycelium form- 

 ing a thin velvety stratum. Very minute, 

 fertile filaments short, peridioles globose, 

 pale yellow; spores globose. On rotting 

 gourds. 



7. M. 5MCC05M5, Berk. Mycelium forming 

 small, pulvinate, yellow^, spongy masses. 

 Peridiole very minute, globose, yellow^, at 

 length olive ; columella minute. On dead 

 shoots of Aucuba. Berk, j^nn, Nat. Hist. 

 vi. pi. 12. fig. 15. 



** Fertile filaments branched. 



8. M. ramosus, Bull. Mycelium woolly. 

 Fertile filaments racemose. Peridioles glo- 

 bose, yellow, then bluish-grey or reddish- 

 brown. On rotting fungi. Bulliard, pi. ^80. 



9. M. subtilissimus, Berk. Mycelium 

 creeping, filaments exceedingly slender. 

 Fertile filaments branched, the short ])atent 

 branches each terminating in a globose 

 peridiole; spores oblong, elliptical. A mildew 

 of onions. Berk. Hort. Journal, iii. p. 97. 

 figs. 1-5. 



BiBL. Berk. Brit. Flora, ii. pt. 2. p. 332, 

 Ann. Nat. Hist. vi. p. 433, Hort. Journal, 



iii. p. 91 ; Fries, Summa Veg. p. 487, Syst. 

 ilfi/c. iii. p. 318; Fresenius,Bei^r. z.Mycologie, 

 1 heft. p. 4 (1850). 



MUCORINI. — A family of microscopic 

 Physomycetous Fungi, constituting the 

 moulds, &c. common on moist decaying 

 vegetable and animal substances, consisting 

 of a filamentous mycelium, forming flocks 

 and clouds in or on decaying matters, 

 bearing vesicles (on erect pedicels or sessile) 

 filled with minute sporules, discharged by 

 the rupture of the vesicles {peridioles) . These 

 plants correspond among the thecasporous 

 Fungi to the Mucedines among the acrospo- 

 rous or free-spored orders. The peridiole 

 consists of the terminal cell of an erect 

 filament, enlarged (like the head on a pin) 

 into a globular vesicle. At first the cavity of 

 this vesicle communicates with that of the 

 pedicel, but a septum is soon formed; in 

 some genera this septum is flat, in others 

 projecting into the interior of the peridiole 

 like the " punt " of a bottle, forming a hemi- 

 spherical or cylindrical columella. While this 

 columella rises in the peridiole, the latter 

 becomes filled with spores, forming thus a 

 polysporous sporange, and it bursts to let 

 them escape. 



The manner of bursting of the sporange 

 and the form of the central column vary 

 much, and aiford generic characters. " The- 

 lactis " presents a remarkable peculiarity ; 

 each filament terminates in a sporange con- 

 taining a great number of spores, while at its 

 base it gives origin to whorls of branches, 

 the terminal cells of which remain sterile. 



Sizygites is stated by Ehrenberg to exhibit 

 a pha3nomenon of conjugation of its branches, 

 like that of the Zygnemaceae among the 

 Algse. (See Sizygites.) 



Some remarkable observations have been 

 published lately by De Baiy, tending to show 

 that the genus Eurotium only represents 

 certain conditions of Aspergillus. (See Eu- 

 rotium.) 



SynojJsis of British and allied Continental 

 Genera. 



I. Phycomyces. Peridiole pear-shaped, 

 separated from the apex of the erect pedicel 

 by an even joint ; opening by an umbilicus. 

 Spores oblong, very large. Filaments caes- 

 pitose, tubular, continuous and shining. 



II. Hydrophora. Peridiole subglobose, 

 membranous, dehiscent, at first crystalline, 

 aqueous, then turbid and at length indurated, 

 persistent. Columella absent; spores simple, 

 conglobated. 



