CHAPTER IX 



DESICCATION OF FRUIT-BODIES A XEROPHYTIC FUNGUS 

 FLORA THE GENUS SCHIZOPHYLLUM 



HITHERTO the retention of vitality by fruit-bodies after desiccation 

 does not appear to have been thoroughly investigated. In systematic 

 works on fungi, it is stated that fruit-bodies in the genera Marasmius 

 and Collybia revive after .being dried up when they obtain access to 

 moisture, but beyond this general fact nothing further seems to have 

 found its way into botanical literature. However, probably most 

 field mycologists have noticed that leathery and corky fruit-bodies 

 occurring on sticks and logs of wood become freshened up in rainy 

 weather. 



A test for retention of vitality is not afforded by the fact that a 

 dried fruit-body, when viewed macroscopically, apparently regains its 

 turgidity on access to moisture, for a number of 'dead fruit-bodies 

 swell up in this way, e.g. Lenzites betulina. The swelling in this and 

 many other species is simply due to the expansion of the hyphal 

 walls. A slow oxydative change going on in a dried fruit-body 

 would also be an unreliable test for retention of vitality, for Paul 

 Becquerel 1 has shown that seeds which were killed by heating and 

 then dried, " respired " more actively than dried seeds still capable of 

 germination. If, however, when supplied with moisture, a fruit-body 

 again begins to shed spores, then we have a clear and convincing 

 proof that it is still living. A fruit-body which has been killed 

 never sheds any spores. Even when a fruit-body which is actively 

 discharging spores is placed under the influence of ether vapour, 2 

 spore-fall ceases immediately. The liberation of spores, therefore, is 

 an active process, the carrying out of which may be taken as sure 

 evidence that the fungus concerned is still living. 



1 P. Becquerel, " Sur la nature de la vie latente des grains et sur les veritable 

 charactores de la vie," Comptes Rendus, T. 143, 1906, p. 1177. 



2 Vide infra, Chap. X. 



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