CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI 13 



Class, Fungi Sub-Class, Basidiomycetes. 



This class will include all gill-bearing fungi, Polyporus, Boletus, Hydnum, etc. 

 Fungi of this class are divided into four natural groups : 

 i. Hymenomycetes. 



2. Gasteromycetes. 



3. Uredinae. 



4. Ustilagineae. 



Group i Hymenomycetes. 



Under this group will be placed all fungi composed of membranes, fleshy, 

 woody, or gelatinous, whether growing on the ground or on wood. The hymen- 

 ium, or spore-bearing surface, is external at an early stage in the life of the 

 plant. The spores are borne on basidia as explained in Figure 2, page 6. 

 When the spores ripen they fall to the ground or are carried by the wind to a 

 host that presents all the conditions necessary for germination ; there they produce 

 the mycelia or white thread-like vines that one may have noticed in plowing sod, in 

 old chip piles, or decayed wood. If one will examine these threads there will be 

 found small knots which will in time develop into the full grown mushroom. 

 Hymenomyctes are divided into six families : 



1. Agaricaceae. Hymenium with gills. 



2. Polyporaceae. ' Hymenium with pores. 



3. Hydnaceae. Hymenium with spines. 



4. Thelephoracese. Hymenium horizontal and mostly on the under surface. 



5. Clavariaceae. Hymenium on a smooth club-shaped surface. 



6. Tremellaceae. Hymenium even and superior. Gelatinous fungi. 



Family i Agaricaceae. 



In the Agaricaceae or common mushrooms, and in all other of similar struc- 

 ture, the spore-producing membranes are found on the under surface of the cap. 

 They consist of thin lamellae, or gills, attached by the upper edge to the cap and 

 extending from the stem to the margin of the cap. Very frequently that space 

 may be entirely utilized by shorter lamellae, or gills, intervening between the longer, 

 especially toward the margin of the cap. In a few species where the stem seems 

 to be wanting, or where it is attached to the side of the cap, the lamellae, or gills, 

 radiate from the point of attachment or from the lateral stem to other parts of the 

 circumference of the cap. Berkeley gives the following characteristics : 

 Hymenium, inferior, spread over easily divisible gills or plates, radiating from 

 a center or stem, which may be either simple of branched. 



This family includes the following genera : 



