PSATHYRELLA DISSEMINATA 



33 



One naturally asks : what evidence is 

 there that the fruit-bodies round about 

 the stump shown in Fig. 18 were really 

 produced at the expense of the stump ? 

 With the answer to this question we 

 shall now concern ourselves. In the first 

 place it must be remarked 

 that the soil was stony, did 

 not contain sticks or chips of 

 wood, was not covered with 

 turf, and had never been 

 manured. Moreover, the 

 fruit-bodies of Psathyrella 

 disseminata came up upon 

 it in the immediate vicinity 

 of the stump and nowhere 

 else. Reflecting on the non- 

 nutritive character of the 

 soil and upon the constant 

 proximity of the fruit- 

 bodies to the stumj), I was 

 led to the deduction that 

 the mycelium of the fungus 

 must stretch through the 

 soil to the places of origin of the fruit- 

 bodies. Direct observations soon proved 

 that this deduction was correct, for it 

 was found that the uppermost layer of 

 soil down to a depth of about an inch 

 contained a network of fine red mycelial 

 cords and hyphae, which stretched 

 radially away from the stump and spread 

 itself throughout the whole region where 

 the fruit-bodies were coming up. 

 Furthermore, the bases of the stipes of 

 the fruit-bodies were found to be in 

 direct continuity with the mycelial cords. 



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VOL. III. 



