RELATIONS OF FUNGI TO OTHER PLANTS. 



11. ARCHEGONIATA { 



[ Alg.e (pond-scums, diatoms, sea- 



I. THALLOPHYTA J ^ '''^^"^'^ ^^ 



1 Fungi (moulds, mildews, mush- 

 rooms). 



C Bryophyta (liverworts, mosses 

 and their allies). 

 Pteridophyta (ferns and their 

 [ allies). 



' Gymnospermae (pines, junipers, 

 yews, etc.). 



III. SPERMAPHYTA { Monocotyledonae (grasses, 



lilies, palms, etc.). 

 Dicotyledonae (Oaks, roses, 

 clover, sunflowers, etc.). 



This simple table will aid us in fixing the place of the fungi in 

 the plant world. 



The first character to be noted in all these plants, great or small, 

 high in organization or simple in structure, is the fact that they 

 breathe. In order for an organism to live it must first breathe, 

 and we have said that like animals, plants are living things. 

 Furthermore, they breathe for exactly the same purpose as ani- 

 mals and their breathing has the same effect both on the air that 

 is taken in, and on themselves. The oxygen of the air is taken 

 up by the plant the same as we take it into our system, and once 

 in the system it combines with the carbon of the plant structure 

 and reappears as carbonic oxide, just as the oxygen in our arterial 

 blood combines with the carbon of our tissues and is thrown out in 

 the air likewise as carbonic oxide. The process of respiration in 

 other words, is an identical process in both plants and animals. 

 We emphasize this point because it is a stumbling block in the way 

 of a correct understanding of the relations of living things to each 

 other, and much of the popular teaching of the day still continues 

 to present the mistaken idea that the respiration process is exactly 

 opposite in plants and animals. 



Plants like animals must also have food to renew their tissues and 

 provide for waste and growth. The animal depends for his food on 



