i3« 



FIRST GROUP. -THALLOPHYTES. 



r-IG. 92. Crucibtthim vulgare Upper part of the longitudinal 

 section through a young fructification magnified, nearly correspond- 

 ing to B in Fig. 91. The section is seen by transmitted light ; the 

 dark parts in the interior are those in which air exists between the 

 hyphae ; in the light parts a transparent mucilage free from air has 

 been formed between the hyphae. The light parts in this figure are 

 the dark parts in the preceding one. 



cup opens at its top, its edges turn over, and the sporangia sink to the bottom, where 

 they lie free, not being, according to Brefeld, connected with the wail at any point (ac- 

 cording to Sachs (Fig. 91 and 92) they 

 are fastened to the wall by cords of 

 hyphae) ; they have only a projecting 

 white coil of hyphae fixed like a peg 

 in the centre. If we imagine the spo- 

 rangia closer together and in greater 

 numbers and with less thick walls, we 

 shall have the roundish cell-like locu- 

 laments which occur in the fructifica- 

 tions of such Gasteromycetes as Octa- 

 7nania, Scleroderma, and others. 



Still more remarkable are the changes 

 produced by differentiation of the inner 

 tissues in the Phalloideae ; we will here 

 call attention to the main points only in 

 the development of Phallus impudi- 

 cus. The germination of the spores has 

 not yet been observed. The young fruc- 

 tification, which is formed on the stout 

 strands of the subterranean perennial 

 mycelium, is here, as in the Nidularieae, 

 at first an aggregate of uniform fila- 

 ments, in which differentiation begins 

 and advances with the growth. Fig. 93 

 gives a longitudinal section of a fructification when it has reached the size and shape 



of a hen's or goose's egg. At this time the 

 tissue consists of separate portions, which 

 may be distributed into four groups: i. The 

 peridium, composed of the outer, firm, dense, 

 white membrane a, an inner white and firm 

 but thin membrane /, and a thick layer of 

 hyphal tissue which has become mucilagi- 

 nous, the gelatinous layer g. 2. The spore- 

 producing apparatus, the gleba, sp, bounded 

 on the outside by the inner peridium, /, on the 

 inside by the firm and dense membrane, / ; 

 from this membrane walls are seen stretching 

 outwards, connected with one another so as 

 to form a honey-comb structure and dividing 

 the gleba into numerous compartments, in 

 which are the fertile hyphae ; on the hyphae 

 are the basidia each of which produces four 

 or more spores, and the number of the whole 

 is so great that the dark-green gleba appears 

 when ripe to consist only of spores. 3. The 

 stipe, st, composed of air- containing tissue 

 which forms numerous narrow compartments 

 as yet very small ; the stalk is hollow, that is 

 the axile portion of its tissue has been changed 

 into a deliquescent mucilage ; the passage 

 thus formed is open above in many individuals, in others closed by the inner peridium. 

 4. The cup, n ; this is a low, broad column of firmer tissue, the outer portion of which 



Fig. 93. Phallus impudicus, a nearly mature 

 specimen just before the elongation of the stalk j/, in 

 longitudinal section one half the nat. size ; a outer 

 layer of the peridium, g its gelatinous substance, i 

 the inner peridium, st the stalk of the pileus t not 

 yet elongated, and with white ridges forming a honey- 

 comb structure on its surface, sp the dark green mass 

 of spores (gleba), k cavity of the stalk filled with w^atery 

 jelly ; n the cup in which the base of the stalk remains 

 fixed after the elongation, x the spot where the inr.er 

 peridium is detached by the elongation of the stalk, m 

 thread of the mycelium. 



