190 SPORE DISSEMINATION 



before dehiscence, are brown and cigar-shaped, has earned for 

 this fungus the common name, "devil's cigar." Discharge by 

 these larger disk fungi creates a blast of air that carries along the 

 spores, so that thev appear like a cloud. 



Among the Discomycetes spore discharge is not only visible 

 but also audible. An easily perceptible hissing sound is emitted 

 by many species. The noise is best heard if the fruit bodies that 

 have been maintained in a moist chamber are held near the ear. 

 As indicated by Buller (1934), Desmazieres noted the emission 

 of sound by Helvetia epihipphnn nearly 100 years ago. De Bary 

 noted it in Peziza acetabulum and Hehella crispa, Stone in H. 

 elastica, Johnstone in Otidea leporina, and Buller in Aleuria 

 re panda, A. vesiculosa, Asco bolus ster cor arms, Caloscy pha ful- 

 gens, Ciliaria scutellata, Galactinia badia, Peziza aurantia, Pseudo- 

 pie ctania mgrella, Pustidaria cat i mis, Pyronevia con flu ens, Rbizina 

 in flat a, Sarcoscypba protract a, S. cor on aria, Urnula crater'unn, 

 and U. geaster. The sound produced resembles most nearly the 

 fizzing of a freshly drawn carbonated drink. The "effervescence" 

 of some species, especially the larger ones, is protracted, lasting 

 for several minutes; in others it can be heard for a few seconds 

 only. 



Among the Discomycetes known to puff [Buller (1934)] are 

 Arachnopeziza aurata, Ascobolus crouani, Cblorospleniuv? aeru- 

 ginosinn, Dasyscypha virginea, Helotium scutula, Lachnea setosa, 

 Mollisia cinerea, Orbilia xantbostigvia, and Rhytisvia acerinwn. 

 The writers have noted its occurrence in Diplocarpon earliana, 

 D. rosae, Peziza repanda, Sclerotinia fructicola, and S. trijolium. 



Spore discharge among Pyrenomycetes. De Bary (1887) was 

 among the first to assemble the extant information regarding spore 

 ejection among Pyrenomycetes. He pointed out that there are 

 two types of expulsion: simultaneous and successive. In the first 

 type all the spores and much of the fluid content of the ascus 

 are ejected as a unit; in the second, each ascospore is discharged 

 separately. De Bary augmented his account with his own obser- 

 vations. Subsequently many other investigators have noted forci- 

 ble spore liberation and have reported their findings with particu- 

 lar species. Much of our knowledge of this phenomenon comes 

 from the recent studies by Buller (1933) and Ingold (1933, 1939). 

 Among Pyrenomycetes the spores of most genera, but not all, 

 are forcibly liberated. These fungi may, for convenience, be 



