6 The North American Cup-Fungi 



The tissue of the hypothecium consists of an interwoven 

 mass of myceUuni known as prosenchyma, or the myceHuni nia\' 

 be transformed into a parenchyma-Hke tissue, the pseudo- 

 parenchyma. The one grades imperceptibh' into the other. 

 The cells of the excipulum ma>' give rise to rigid or flexuous 

 hairs which clothe the exterior of the cup. 



The hymenium is composed of a palisade of sterile, clul)- 

 shaped or filiform bodies, the paraphyses which are often pig- 

 mented giving color to the hymenium (see frontispiece), and 

 larger c\lindrical, club-shaped or ovoid bodies known as the 

 asci in which the spores are produced in definite numbers in 

 the following ratio: 2-4-8-16-32-64-128, etc. The variation in 

 the form and markings of the spores will be discussed in a later 

 chapter. Occasionalh- the tips of the paraphyses form a rather 

 distinct layer, the epithecium. 



3. Origin of the Apothecium 



The formation of the ascophore is known to be preceded in 

 a number of species by a definite sexual process so that it has 

 come to be regarded as the sexual method of reproduction 

 although the process has been demonstrated in a comparatively 

 small number of species and in some of these it is not cer- 

 tain that the organs, though present, are actually functional. 

 Whether sex organs exist in all species of the group but have 

 not yet been found or whether they have been lost in man\- is 

 a question which can be answered only after long and careful 

 research. 



One of the first species in which a sexual process was observed 

 by the early workers, DeBar\^ and Tulasne, is Pyronema ompha- 

 lodes, probably because the sex organs are so very large and 

 distinct in this particular form and so easily obtained, since 

 the fungus probably occurs in every part of the w^orld. At any 

 rate, it has been found by the writer in every place that he has 

 collected, both in continental North America as well as in the 

 most obscure islands of the sea. All that is necessary for its 

 growth is a burned area with sufficient moisture to insure growth. 

 Detailed suggestions regarding the artificial growth of this fungus 

 will be discussed in a later chapter. 



The sex organs in Pyronema as described by DeBary consist 

 of clusters or archicarps and antheridia produced side by side 

 and later arranged in pairs. The archicarp consists of a large 



