MAY 4, 1923 PROCEEDINGS: BOTANICAL SOCIETY 187 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED 
SOCIETIES 
BOTANICAL SOCIETY 
158TH MEETING 
The 158th meeting of the Society was held at the Cosmos Club at 8 P.M., 
Tuesday, March 7, 1922, 66 members and guests being present. 
Dr. A. D. Horxins was elected to membership. 
Under Brief Notes and Reviews of Literature, Dr. A. 8. Hrrcncocx 
showed the Society a sample of paper from bamboo, the paper having been 
made in France. He stated that no paper in the United States was made 
from a grass. 
Dr. Rupvotr Kuraz, Agricultural Attache and Secretary to the Czecho- 
slovak Legation gave an address on Agriculture in Czechoslovakia, and the 
achievements of the Czechs in American agriculture. At the close of the regular 
program, two motion pictures were shown by Dr. Kuraz, one on Prague, the 
capital city, and the second on the national Sokol. 
Prof. Daviy LumspEN addressed the Society on Raising orchid seedlings 
by the use of a mycorrhizal fungus. 
The presence of endophytic fungi in the roots of certain plants of the 
order Orchidaceae has been described by several authors. It was Link! 
who first observed them in the protocorm of Goodyera procera, an orchid 
native to India and Malaya. He did not attempt to describe the fungus, 
merely stating that the cells were filled with a colorless granular material 
which later disappeared. 
The term mycorrhiza was used first by Frank? in 1885 to describe the in- 
fection of the roots of a plant by a fungus. It was not however until 1903 
that serious consideration was given to the reasons for the affinity existing 
between an orchid and a fungus. During the year 1909 Hans Burgeff con- 
tributed a valuable publication, ““Die Wurzelpilze der Orchideen”’ dealing on 
the subject. The same year Noel Bernard published an article showing that 
when the seeds were sown under aseptic conditions the embryos swelled and 
formed green spherules and finally died; when sown on pure cultures of the 
endophytic fungus isolated from the roots of these plants, the embryo devel- 
oped normally, forming a spheroid body which soon produced a cotyledon 
and papillae with long root hairs. 
Further investigation conducted by Bernard and Burgeff at that time 
showed that the germination of orchid seed did not occur except in the 
presence of the root fungi. 
The speaker having studied very closely the methods pursued by Bernard 
and Burgeff carried out numerous experiments with several genera and species 
of orchidaceous plants to ascertain the value of fungoid infection in the 
germination of orchid seeds. Cellulose, starches, agar and other nutrients 
were also used as mediums on which to germinate the seed. 
Various kinds of wood kept under normal and abnormal moisture conditions 
were also used. The most satisfactory results were obtained when the seeds 
were sown in 4 to 5 inch flower pots, containing 50 per cent osmunda fiber; 
1H. F. Link. Icones selectae anatomico-botanicae II p. 10, t. VII, 1840. 
2 A.B. Frank. Ueber die auf Wurzelsymbiose beruhende Ernahrung gewisser Baume 
durch unterirdische Pilze Ber. d. deutsch. bot. Gesell. IIL. pp. 128-145 (1885) Lehrbuch 
der Botanik Bd. J (1892) p. 264. 
