19 



ing spores only at the apex. This group is subdivided into liiree sec- 

 tions : (1) Dacyromycetes, which iiichides the lowest of the Treraelloid 

 forms, with club-shaped basidia, nearly approaching the true Hynieno- 

 niycetal type, together with several groups of minor import ; (2) Gastero- 

 mycetes ; and (3) Hymenomycetes, with Phalloidea; placed in the group 

 as a subsection of Gasteromycetes. 



The above can only be considered as a very brief abstract of the system 

 of classitication proposed by Dr. Brefield, but it will serve to give some 

 idea of the principle on which the system is based, which is sufficient for 

 our present purpose. Those who wish to study the system in detail will 

 find it treated in a comprehensive manner in Dr. Von Tavel's summary 

 as it appears in the Vergleichende Morphologie der Filze^ Jena, 1892. 



CONIOMYCETES AND HYPHOMYCETES. 



In the original classification of Fries two of the primary divisions of 

 the sporiferous Fungi were termed, respectively, Goniomycetes and Ily- 

 phomycetes. This arrangement was accepted by Berkeley, the term Coiii- 

 omycetes being applied to all fungi in which the naked spores, appearing 

 like an impalpable dust, were the principal feature of the jjlant, and the 

 term Hyphomycetes to fungi in which the threads or hyphae bearing the 

 spores were the most conspicuous feature. 



Goniomycetes, as broadly interin-eted by Berkeley and other mycolo- 

 gists of his day, included the Uredineae or " rust fungi," the Ustilagines 

 or " smut fungi," the Sphaeropsidete, and the Melanconieae. This arrange- 

 ment was very unsatisfactory on account of the distinctively different 

 character of the methods of reproduction of the respective groups, and 

 they have since been disassociated and by some authors ranked as dis- 

 tinct orders or families. Others combine Urediuei and Ustilaginei in one 

 group under the name Hypcdermei. 



Familiar examples of Urediuei are seen in the rust of the Barberry leaf, 

 etc., and of the Ustilaginei in the " smut " of corn and the " bunt " of 

 wheat. 



Some authors combine the Sphaeropsidese with the closely allied Melan- 

 conieae. M. C. Cooke contends that the Sphmropsidem should be con- 

 sidered apart from the Alelanconiece, on the fundamental basis that the 

 former possess a distinct perithecium, while the latter do not. 



The Sphmropsidem as recently defined by Cooke are " Fungi possessed 

 of a peritheciwtn, hut vnthout asci, the sporules or stylospores being pro- 

 duced internally at the apex of more or less distinct supporting hyphae 

 or pedicels, termed sporophores." 



The Sphaeropsideae somewhat resemble the Pyrenomycetejc in external 

 characteristics, but differ from them in the absence of asci and paraphy- 

 ses. Saccardo retains all the species in his Sylloge, but relegates them 

 to an inferior position as imperfect fungi. 



The group Pyren omycetes, or Sphierlacel, as at first recognized by 

 Fries, included not only the Sphtfiriacei and the Perisporacei, but also 



