8 BRITISH FUNGI 



But in this one kind there is a division of labour which enables 

 these spores to perform the functions of summer-spores and winter- 

 spores respectively. The spores developed throughout the summer 

 on hollyhock leaves germinate the moment they are formed, and 

 produce m^Tiads of smaller spores while yet attached to the leaf. 

 Tliese smaller spores are dispersed by wind and infect adjoining 

 plants, thus playing the part of summer-spores. During the autumn, 

 when the leaves are fading, the spores produced on the leaves, 

 which agree exactly in structure with those produced during the 

 summer, do not germinate on the leaves and produce minute 

 secondary spores, but act as true winter-spores, remaining in a 

 resting or unchanged condition until the follo^^^ing spring, when they 

 germinate and produce secondary spores, some of \\'hich are de- 

 posited by wind, etc., on the young hollyhock leaves to commence 

 the C3^cle of growth once again. 



It has already been stated that the primary object of the evolution 

 of a conidial phase of reproduction was to secure the dispersion of 

 the reproductive bodies of fungi by wind. As the terrestrial forms 

 of fungi gradually enlarged their sphere of action, unusual conditions 

 had to be met, and consequently adaptation to circumstances 

 followed ; certain groups, including the truffles and allies, elected 

 to adopt an underground mode of existence. Now under such 

 conditions the spores could not possibly be dispersed by wind, but 

 we find that all such underground fungi possess a very po\\'erful 

 scent or smell. Tliis smell is for the purpose of indicating to animals, 

 mostly rodents, their whereabouts. When discovered, they are 

 promptly unearthed and eaten. The spores pass through the 

 alimentary tract uninjured, and are thus dispersed. The strong 

 smell is only in e\'idence when the spores are mature and ready for 

 dispersal, otherwise the point would be missed, and the plants 

 unearthed in an early stage of development. 



In some other groups of fungi, more certain methods of spore 

 dispersion than by wind have gradually been evolved, and perhaps 

 the most perfect arrangement is met with in the family called 

 Phalloidaceae, of which the well-known " stinkhorn " {Ithy phallus 

 impiidicus) is a British representative. The species included in this 

 family are mostly met with in tropical countries. There are only 

 about half a dozen European representatives, three of which occur 

 in England. The fungi included in this family are remarkable for 

 their very varied and peculiar sliapes ; the British species are 

 comparatively simple in form. In many tropical " stinkhorns " 

 there is a large, open-meshed, crinoline or skirt-like structure, 

 spreading out below the cap ; in others the shape closely mimics 

 that of an expanded sea anemone, in others the general structure is 

 club-shaped, with many branch-like outgrowths from the upper 

 portion, while in the rare British species called Clalhrus canccllatus, 

 the entire fungus resembles a hollow sphere, the wall of which 



