232 NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN. 



The predominating colors to be found among the plants of 

 this group are shades of red or yellow; the red ranging from 

 brilliant scarlet to dull brownish black, and the yellow includ- 

 ing almost every conceivable tint. In addition to these colors, 

 some plants are black, some white, and a few a dull green. 

 As to the function of the color in fungi, little is known. De 

 Bary attributes it to the presence of minute globules which 

 are the aggregations of fatty materials in the protoplasm of 

 the cells of the fungus. But whether the color should be 

 attributed to the fatty substances themselves or to other color- 

 ing matters which are only associated with them is not known. 

 In this locality the most brilliant forms occur in the late fall 

 or early spring and it may be that the bright colors are asso- 

 ciated with low temperatures. The most brilliantly colored 

 form to be found in this region is Sarcoscypha coccinea (Jacq.) 

 Sacc. PI. XXII Fig. II. Plants of this species may be found 

 attached to sticks which are buried under leaves and soil in 

 the late fall. The same plants have been found in the spring 

 while the ground was still frozen, apparently in a fresh and 

 living condition. There seems to be no doubt that these 

 plants live during the winter under snow and ice, and it may 

 be that the brilliant scarlet colors are concerned in this fact. 



The life-history of the discomycete, as well as that of all 

 other fungi, exhibits two distinct phases, the vegetative or 

 growing phase and the reproductive. The unit of structure 

 of the fungus is the hypha, and in this group of fungi the 

 vegetative phase consists of a net-work of delicate, thread-like 

 hyphae, or of combinations of hyphae forming larger cord-like 

 mycelial strands which branch and permeate through the 

 substratum on which the fruiting discs or cups are found, and 

 is consequenty generally hidden from view. But the repro- 

 ductive phase generally appears above ground and is often 

 elevated on a pedicel in order that the spores may be more 

 widely distributed at maturity. 



In many of the plants of this group two distinct methods 

 of reproduction have been studied; the sexual and the asexual. 



