ZT^' 



RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



and the four chief branches had all been produced simultaneously 

 or nearly so ; but I do not think that this happened. Rather, a 

 single stout pseudorhiza was first produced ; then the large fruit- 

 body at its end opened, shed its sj^ores, underwent autodigestion, 

 and withered down to its base ; and, finally, from primordia which 

 were produced on the pseudorhiza either whilst the first fruit-body 

 was expanding or after it had shed its spores, new pseudorhizae 

 and secondary pilei were subsequently developed. 



The normal production of a number of secondary fruit-bodies 

 from an old and large pseudorhiza which bears the stump of a large 

 primary fruit-body was observed several times (Fig. 187, C). Injury 

 to a primary fruit-body, so that this withers before it has expanded, 

 may also lead to the production of secondary fruit-bodies (Fig. 1 87, 

 D). The development of secondary fruit-bodies upon an old 

 pseudorhiza is no doubt correlated with the fact that the food 

 materials contained within the pseudorhiza have not been exhausted 

 by the formation of the primary fruit-body. New fruit-bodies, 

 as Weir also observed, are produced until exhaustion is complete. 

 So far as my observations have gone, it is only the larger and more 

 vigorous pseudorhizae which jiroduce secondary fruit-bodies. Weak 

 slender ones often show no trace of them. Doubtless, by injuring 

 the pilei terminating pseudorhizae, one could cause secondary fruit- 

 bodies to come into existence at will. 



What is the function of the pseudorhiza of Coiwinus macrorhizns ? 

 The answer is as follows. The primordia of the fruit-bodies of 

 C. macrorhizus are often produced on a deep-seated mycelium at a 

 little distance below the surface of the nutrient substratum and, 

 when this occurs, the pseudorhiza serves as an organ for pushing 

 upwards to the surface of the substratum those parts of the fruit- 

 body — the rudimentary pileus and the rudimentary stipe-shaft— 

 which are destined to complete their development aerially. The 

 frequent production of hundreds of fruit-bodies of C. macrorhizus 

 on a manure pile where perhaps no other agaric is to be seen testifies 

 to the success of this species in the struggle for existence. 



When visiting a large mushroom cave near Paris, I observed 

 that Cojjrinus macrorhizus was growing on some of the beds. The 

 fruit-bodies had the normal size and were provided with the 



