CHARACTERISTICS OF AGARICUS 



room, but they should not be termed seeds. 

 Their structure is so simple, and they are 

 in their development so distinct from seeds, 

 that the proper botanical term should come 

 into general popular use to express this form 

 of reproductive body. ^'Spore" is the des- 

 ignation for the reproductive bodies of all 

 mushrooms, and other fungi. In the com- 

 mon, cultivated mushroom the spores are 

 produced over the gill surface only. These 

 surfaces are studded with erect cells in 

 palisade arrangement, each cell (called a 

 ^^basidium") bearing 2 or 4 spores. The 

 entire gill surface is the ^'hymenium," or 

 spore-bearing layer. 



Mycelium, spawn. Although the spores 

 are normally the propagative bodies and un- 

 doubtedly serve in the open for the dis- 

 tribution of the species, growers cannot em- 

 ploy these directly in the production of 

 mushrooms. In fact, it is difficult to ger- 

 minate them in the laboratory, even though 

 the conditions are as favorable as our 

 knowledge permits us to make them. Un- 



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