TIIE CUP FUNGI 



251 



damp woods, forming very striking and beautiful growths. The 

 chief peculiarity of the ascocarps is the fact that the entire 

 inner surface of the cup is a fruiting surface, consisting of im- 

 mense numbers of asci, arranged upright and all parallel with 

 one another, among delicate sterile filaments (Fig. 221, C). The 



FIG. 221. Cup fungi 



A, Lachnea, a small hairy form frequently growing on wood ; B, Peziza, a large 

 form growing on earth ; C, section through the fruiting surface of a Peziza 

 type, showing asci in various stages of development among delicate sterile 

 filaments (paraphyses) 



asci are thus exposed, imbedded in a fruiting surface, and are 

 not inclosed in a case, as in the mildews. 



The sac fruits of some cup fungi (notably Pyronema) are 

 known to be developed as the result of a sexual process, but 

 there is probably a great deal of sexual degeneration in this 

 group of the fungi, as in the water molds (Sec. 262). 



The morel. Some very striking large forms are closely related 

 to the cup fungi. Among them is the morel (Morchella), much 

 prized as one of the best of the edible fungi (Fig. 222), and some 

 other curiously shaped types (Helvella, Mitrula, Geoglossum, etc.). 



