CHAPTER XVII. 



CARPOSPOEE^E. 



356. The distinguishing characteristic of the plants 

 which constitute this vast division is the formation of a 

 sporocarp, as a result of the fertilization of the female organ. 

 The sporocarp consists, except in the simplest cases, of two 

 parts essentially different from each other, viz., (1) a fer- 

 tile part, which either directly or indirectly produces spores, 

 sometimes a few, or even one, or, on the other hand, a very 

 great number ; (2) a sterile part, consisting of cells or tis- 

 sues developed from the cells adjacent to the fertile part, 

 and so formed as to envelop it. This group includes plants 

 with chlorophyll, and a large number of species which are 

 parasitic or saprophytic, and which, as a consequence, are 

 destitute of chlorophyll. In the former, the sporocarp is 

 small in proportion to the size of the vegetative parts of the 

 plant ; but in the latter, where the vegetative parts are great- 

 ly reduced, the sporocarp is proportionately large. In this 

 the parasites and saprophytes of the Carposporeae are like 

 those of the Phanerogams, in which the vegetative or assimi- 

 lative organs are smaller than in those which contain chlo- 

 rophyll ; thus the very large sporocarp of many of the Asco- 

 mycetes and the Basidiomycetes, and their relatively small 

 mycelium, may be compared to the large reproductive organs 

 and the reduced stems and leaves of the Rafflesiacece.* 



* This comparison must not be misunderstood. It does not imply 

 homology of the parts compared, but it is intended to compare the 

 vegetative and reproductive organs of the one group of plants, func- 

 tionally considered, with those of the other. There can be no doubt 

 that functionally the giant flower of liafflesin is the equivalent of the 

 sporocarp of a Pezizu, while structurally they are not equivalent ; in 

 other words, they are analogues, but not homologues. 



