STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 83 



little threads called hyphae. This structure can be seen very 

 easily in such a fungus as the common bread mold. Fungi dif- 

 fer from higher plants in being reproduced by means of spores 

 instead of by seeds. Spores are very minute bodies which are 

 invisible to the naked eye but are easily seen with the micro- 

 scope. 



A few examples of fungi with which you are familiar will help 

 to make the characters clear. The common toadstools which 

 we find in the woods and fields are fungi of large size. The part 

 of the toadstool which we see above the ground is called the 

 fruiting portion because it is the part which bears the spores. 

 The spores of a toadstool are borne in large numbers on the 

 gills on the underside of the cap. The part of the toadstool 

 which appears above the ground is not the entire plant. There 

 is a network of fine threads of hyphae called the mycelium which 

 grows through a considerable area and absorbs food from the 

 organic matter contained in the soil and it is only when this my- 

 celium has stored up a sufficient amount of food that the fungus 

 fruits and we have the toadstool. 



The large shelf fungi which occur on old trees and logs are 

 quite hard and woody in some cases but they have all the essen- 

 tial characters of fungi in that they are devoid of green color- 

 ing matter, are composed of threads, and reproduce by means 

 of spores. The spores of these fungi are borne in the little 

 pores on the under side. The mycelium in this case spreads 

 through the wood getting food for its growth and causing decay. 



In the fruiting part of a toadstool or shelf fungus, the thread- 

 like structure is not very evident unless the body is torn apart 

 and examined because the threads are woven together in very 

 compact masses so that the individual threads cannot be easily 

 seen. 



We all know that if a piece of bread which has been exposed 

 to the air is put in a moist place it molds. The spores of the 

 mold fungi are very small and are present in the air of almost 

 any room. When the spore of the mold falls upon the bread 

 and finds suitable conditions of warmth and moisture, it begins 

 to grow. A little tube grows out from the spore. Later this 

 tube branches and continues to grow until a much branched 

 mycelium is formed. When the mycelium has stored up suflfi- 



