MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



279 



parable to the normal but the spores were not completed. Exact evi- 

 dence as to the condition of these structures before etiolation began 

 was not obtained. 



Relation of Sporophores and Sporangia of Fungi to Light and 

 Darkness. — When the facts obtained by the observations of the 

 behavior of fungi in light and darkness are brought under consider- 

 ation it is to be seen that these plants present the greatest diversity 

 of reaction. Some species do not make any alteration in form in 

 response to illumination and darkness, while others carry on the for- 

 mation of sporophores in light onl}^ or in darkness only. The 

 example of Coprimes may be taken to illustrate one phase of this 

 action. This plant develops a length much greater than the normal 



Fig. 171. Coprinusstercoriarius. ^, normal ; ^, grown in darkness ; C, etiolated 

 culture which has been exposed to subsequent illumination. After Brefeld. 



in darkness, with the sporangia remaining in a rudimentary or incom- 

 plete stage. After growth has proceeded in this manner for some 

 time the illumination of the body is followed by the production of 

 sporangia in a manner demonstrating most conclusively that the 

 action in question is due to a purely stimulative action of light, since 

 the rays do not participate in any synthesis of material. 



The recent results obtained by Potts ^^* show that the growth of 



^^' Potts, G. Zur Phjsiologie des Z>/c/yo5/^//«w iniicoroides. Flora, 91 : 281-347. 

 iqo2. 



