628 COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF FUNGI 



which was nourished by the first, in the Basidiomycetes they are two 

 independent entities which, under certain conditions, both can propagate 

 through imperfect forms and, e.g., in the heteroecious rusts, differ charac- 

 teristically in their physiological needs (p. 462). Thus in the Basidio- 

 mycetes, there has arisen between plasmogamy and caryogamy, a new 

 independent entity, the dicaryophyte. 



Corresponding to its newly acquired independence, this new dicaryo- 

 phyte proceeds to the independent formation of fructifications (p. 407). 

 These arise without the direct intervention of plasmogamy directly 

 from physiological stimulation (p. 407) and thus, like the fructifications 

 of the imperfect forms, are vegetative in origin (in contrast to the peri- 

 thecia of the Plectascales and the Pyrenomycetes and the apothecia of 

 certain Discomycetes) ; herein exists the inherent contradiction in the 

 phylogeny of the fungi : decline in sexuality and ascent in structure of the 

 fructifications, is its natural solution. While in the Ascomycetes fructi- 

 fications belonged to the haplophase and only bore the diplont as a 

 dependent structure on or in them, in the Basidiomycetes, they belong 

 entirely in the dicaryophase; thus in this respect, the scale Zygomycetes- 

 Ascomycetes-Basidiomycetes corresponds to the Chlorophyceae- 

 Bryophyta-Cormophyta series of the chlorophyllous plants. As the 

 mechanical principles and structural materials, the hyphae are every- 

 where the same, the fructifications of Basidiomycetes (with the exception 

 of the end forms in the Gasteromycetes) resemble both perfect and 

 imperfect forms of the Ascomycetes (except for individualities which are 

 determined by type of spore dissemination, p. 416) just as in the various 

 series the Basidiomycetes have developed strongly converging types. 

 Thus we find in both classes, the development from gymnocarpy to 

 hemiangiocarpy and to hypogaeous forms. Similarly, to cite one example, 

 the Clavaria type has been realized both in perfect and imperfect forms of 

 Ascomycetes as well as in different series of Basidiomycetes. Only the 

 fructifications of the Basidiomycetes, by a greater mass, effect an 

 enormous waste of food. 



Just as plasmogamy disappeared in the Basidiomycetes and its direct 

 product, the dicaryophyte, lost its specific character, so thereafter the 

 organs and products of caryogamy, the gonotoconts and tetracytes, 

 begin to disappear. First they lose the gonotoconts, the basidia, which 

 are a fixed form of asci, become plastic and varied (p. 413). Then, with 

 the predominance of endocaryogamy, they acquire more and more the 

 character of imperfect forms; thus in the Gasteromycetes, they lose their 

 biologically unique position (p. 417) and differ only in internal cytological 

 characters from conidial formations : in proportion as the asexual fructi- 

 fications are lost the sexual fructification begins to become asexual. 

 And, in a third direction, in both subclasses of the Basidiomycetes, as 

 occurred already with plasmogamy and caryogamy in the transition from 



