FUNGI 



Fig. 17. MOULD. 



1. Single plant, x 40. 2, same, natural size. 3. Spore-case. 4. Resting spore. 

 3 and 4Jiighly magnified. 



food. You probably guess that the minute bodies escaping 

 from the balls correspond to seeds and are able to grow into 

 new plants; they are called spores. Think how many 

 spores every little plant produces! Since there are so 

 many mould spores in the air, do you wonder that when- 

 ever we leave their food standing long enough in a warm, 

 moist place, we are sure to find a crop of mould ? 



There are many other plants that, like the mould, con- 

 sist mainly of slender, white hairs, but the hairs are often 

 densely interwoven. Fungi is the name given to this 

 group of plants. When fungi get their food from living 

 plants and animals, these delicate hairs, or cells, that absorb 

 the food are often within the tissues of their host, but the 

 spores are likely to be produced outside. Smut on corn, 

 rust on wheat or rose leaves or malva, and the white powder 

 often seen surrounding dead house-flies, are all spores of 

 such fungi. There are fungi that sometimes attack potatoes, 

 grape vines, fruit trees, silk worms, etc., and work great 



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