312 THE BASIDIOMYCETES 



gressively from the bottom toward the top, and this tissue 

 disintegrates completely as the powdery spore masses mature. 



Although Fischer (1933) regarded the Podaxineae (Podaxales) 

 as a separate suborder of the Gastromycetes, Conard (1915) and 

 Gaumann (1926), because of the gill-like nature of the tramal 

 plates in Secotium, have suggested that these fungi are perhaps 

 to be considered aberrant representatives of the Agaricales. Cun- 

 ningham (1925) regards Secotium as undoubtedly gastromyce- 

 tous and sus^aests that it has been derived from a form similar to 

 Hymenogaster. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Conard, H. S., "The structure and development of Secothmt agaricoides," 



MycoL, 7:94-103, 1915. 

 Cunningham, G. H., "A critical revision of the Australian and New 



Zealand species of the genus Secotium," Proc. Lmnea7i Soc. N. S. 



Wales, 49:97-119, 1924. 

 "The development of two New Zealand species of Secotium," Trans. 



Brit. Mycol. Soc, iO; 216-224, 1925. 

 Fischer, E., "Gastromyceteae." In Engler and Prantl, Die Jiatiirlichen 



FftanzenjaiJiilien. Zweite i\uflage, 7a. 122 pp. Wilhelm Engelmann, 



Leipzig. 1933. 

 Gaumann, E., Vergleichende Morphologie der Pilze. 626 pp. Jena. 1926. 

 LoHWAG, H., "Entwicklungsgeschichte und svstematische Stellung von Seco- 



tiinn agaricoides (Czern.) Holl.," Osterr. Botan. Z., 75:61-174, 1924. 

 Massee, G., "A monograph of the genus Podaxis Desv.," /. Botany, 28:33, 



69, 1890. 

 Patouillard, N., "Le genre Podaxon," Bull. soc. mycol. France, 6: 159-167, 



1890. 



Sclerodenjtatales 



The members of this order possess a thick peridium consisting 

 of a single layer. The gleba is divided into numerous fertile 

 areas separated by intertwined hyphae. Rabinowitsch (1894) 

 studied the development of Scleroderma bovista, finding that 

 knots of deeply staining hyphae appear in the otherwise uniform 

 fundaments. These knots consist of hyphae whose terminal cells, 

 directed toward the center of the knots, enlarge to become the 

 basidia. Masses of spores eventually replace these knots, and 

 the interposed sterile tissues also disintegrate, except for a few 

 simple hyphae that become the capillitia. Finally the peridium 

 ruptures irregularly, permitting spore dissemination. 



