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THE FLESHY FUNGI OF 1909. 



Rev. Robert Campbell, D.D., Montreal. 



Why the Fungi of 1909? Because so far as the fleshy Fungi are 

 concerned, the Aoarieaceae, the Hydnaceae. the Clavariaeeae, the Trcmell- 

 ineae, the Lycoperdaceae, the Phalloideae, the Morels and Ilelvellas, and 

 to a certain extent the Polyporaceae, — everything depends upon the season. 

 Because these Fungi were greatly in evidence last year gives no assurance 

 that there will be a good crop of them this year. The two conditions are 

 heat and moisture, — not heat alone or moisture alone, — but heat and mois- 

 ture combined. The past year furnished the necessary conditions, and so 

 in Eastern Canada at least, there was a large production of the foremen- 

 tioned Fungi. 



Canada is so extensive a territory, however, and conditions vary so 

 much in different sections of the country, that what was true of Montreal 

 and the surrounding country would not necessarily apply to other portions 

 of the Dominion. - 



It is because the Fungi are parasitic plants, that they are so depend- 

 ent upon atmospheric conditions. Plants that annually take root in the 

 soil may be expected to reappear. The degree of heat and moisture aif ects 

 them too, but not to the same extent. During the years 1906, 1907 and 

 1908, many species of Fungi were not to be found in this district because 

 the season, when the spores might be expected to start growing, was ex- 

 cessively hot and dry. 



In this connection there is much yet to be learned. For instance, the 

 vitality of the spores : whether they survive one, two, three or more 

 winters. Another fact I have discovered is that because any particular 

 species abounded in any one spot last year, there is no ground of assurance 

 that it will be found in the same spot next year, or indeed ever aiiaiii. — the 

 reason no doubt being that its favorite host, — decaying vegetation under 

 ground, has ceased to afford the particular fungus nourishment. 



However, it is those larger Fungi that prey upon shrubs and trees 

 that this society is interested in specially. These belong chiefly to the 

 great Polyporus family. Certain of the Ilydnums indeed ^row on trees; 

 Hydnuni Caput-ursi, and Hydnum erinaceus; but it is mainly the Polypori 

 which are to be looked for on living or dead trees and shrubs. They are of 

 a woody structure and are not annuals, like the softer Fiiniii ; aii<l so tli(n- 

 are not so dependent as the latter upon atmospheric conditions. 



