182 RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



from the vertical at some angle, e.g. 15, part of the hymenium 

 instead of looking slightly downwards or being vertical, looks 

 slightly upwards. This up ward- looking position of part of the 

 hymenium, however, is not so fatal for spore-dissemination as 

 in the Agaricineae or Polyporeae because the hymenium is well 

 exposed to the wind. It is probable that, when a spore has been 



FIG. 62. Clavaria vermicularis. Cylindrical fruit-bodies 

 coming up among grass in October at Haslemere, Eng- 

 land. Photographed by Miss E. M. Wakefield. Natural 



shot away from its sterigma on the upper side of an inclined 

 fruit-body, air-currents sweeping round the fruit-body carry the 

 spore away before it has time to fall back on to the hymenium. 



Let us now consider the form of such a branched Clavaria as 

 Clavaria pyxidata (Fig. 63). The fruit-body is seated on the 

 ground, is negatively geotropic, and therefore erect. The main 

 stem which probably is always barren is produced first. This 

 branches and rebranches so that, as we proceed upwards, the 

 branches become finer and finer. The upper branches are fertile 

 and produce spores. It is to be especially noted that the upper 

 spore-producing branches, although becoming ever thinner as we 



