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Minnesota Plant Diseases. 



distribution. The spores are found on the upper surface of the 

 cap and at maturity are contained in a sticky, semi-fluid olive- 

 green mass which has a strong odor of carrion. Flies and other 

 insects are attracted by the odor, carry off the sticky mass, and 

 thus disseminate the spores. The attraction for insects is still 

 further increased by the presence in some forms of a lace-cur- 



tain-1 ike veil which 

 hangs down from be- 

 neath the cap. In the 

 very early stages the 

 spore-bearing region 

 shows a series of cham- 

 bers lined with pali- 

 sades and very similar 

 to that of the puff- 

 balls, but at maturity 

 the chambers disap- 

 pear in the disintegra- 

 tion of portions and 

 only the sticky remains 

 with the spores are left. 

 The carrion fungi 

 show an extraordinary 

 amount of differentia- 

 tion and complexity in 

 the development of 

 their fruiting bodies 

 and the insect-distri- 

 bution of spores is car- 

 ried to a high degree 

 of efficiency. In these 

 respects the carrion fungi are undoubtedly the most highly de- 

 veloped of all of the basidium-bearing fungi, and it is doubtful if 

 any other forms in the whole realm of the fungi are their equal. 

 The carrion fungi are saprophytes and are all earth-dwelling 

 forms. (Figs. 3, 10, 12, 81, 94, 95.) 



FIG. 95. A carrion fungus (Dictyophora duplicata), 

 photographed just after the breaking of the "egg" 

 and while the cap was being lifted. The "egg"- 

 membrane remnant at the base is in sharp focus 

 since it did not move during the exposure; but 

 the whole top which has been lifted during the 

 15-minute exposure has been blurred. Below the 

 cap is a large lace-curtain structure which serves 

 as an additional attraction for insects. Original. 



