III 



CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI 



45 



Order 5. HYPOCREALES. Some of the species of 

 this order are parasitic on higher plants, some on fleshy 

 fungi, some on insects, while others are saprophytic. 

 They vary in colour from white to yellow, purple, 

 scarlet, and red, although a few are brown. Among the 



FIG. 28. Claviceps purpurea, or ergot. 



1, Ergot on rye-grass; 2, ergot on rye: the black, horn -like bodies are stromata or 

 sclerotia of the fungus, and bear the conidial form of fruit ; 3, portion of conidial form of 

 fruit produced on a stroina : the conidia are mixed with a sweet substance attractive to flies ; 

 4, a stroina bearing the stalked ascigerous form of fruit, after lying on the ground throughout 

 the winter; 5, head of fertile portion of ascigerous fruit, showing the warted surface due to 

 the projecting mouths of the perithecia ; the section shows the numerous perithecia sunk in the 

 fleshy stroina ; 6, an ascus containing eight needle-shaped spores ; 7, a single spore. Figs. 1 and 

 2, nat. size ; the remainder magnified (after Massee). 



most common are the ergots (Claviceps), which occur 

 on ryes, other grains, and grasses, (Fig. 28). They 



