Some Questions which they Suggest. 



39 



FRUCTIFICATION. Perhaps the point of distinction which 

 first arrests the eye of the student is the variety of form in 

 which these organisms fructify and bear their spores. 



These forms, to which different designations have been 

 given, may be considered : 



a. The sporangium, a term which is sometimes applied 

 to the spore-bearing organ in general, has been often 

 applied in a narrower sense when that organ is well defined 



Fia. 8. Craterium pedunculatum. Group of Sporangia and 

 Plasmodiocarps. x about 10 diameters. 



and symmetrical, such as the grape-like structures of 

 Badhamia (Fig. 1), the baskets of Cribraria (Fig. 5), or 

 the elongated forms of Arcyria or Stemonitis (Figs. 6 and 7). 

 /3. Plasmodiocarp is a term applied to the spore-bearing 

 part when it is sessile and irregular in form, sometimes 

 like a cushion, sometimes like a creeping snake or a long 



