618 



FUNGUS 



FUNKIA 



A Fungus is a plant of very low organization consist 

 ing of one or more cells multiplying its kind by cell 

 division and by spores. It contains no green substance 

 (chlorophyll), and grows either as a saprophyte upon 



880. Colonies of the rust Fungus on the leaf of a 

 hollyhock. 



non-living organic matter or derives its food directly 

 from another living organism, and is then a true para- 

 site. Fungi are very common, and range in size from 

 the large hard-shell Fungus upon logs and the puff- 

 ball and toadstool ia the rich earth to the delicate 

 moulds that infest bread and other foods, and the still 

 more microscopic forms that produce fermentation, as 

 3'east in dough and other species employed in mak- 

 ing beer. Some of the toadstools are "very richly 

 tinted with red, yellow, brown and even blue, and a few 

 are deadly poisonous, as the "death cup "and the "fly 

 agaric," which grow upon the decaying organic matter 

 in shaded places. Others are wholesome, and are grown 

 as articles of food, the leading species of which is the 

 mushroom, Agaricus campestris. More highly prized 

 still is the truffle, which is produced under ground and 

 hunted by hogs, which find thetn by their odor, and even 

 muzzled hogs are trained to unearth them. 



One of the parasitic species, ergot, infests the Heads 

 of rye, changing the grains into much enlarged horny 

 purplish masses called "spurred rye" because of the 

 resemblance of the fungous grains to a cock's spur. 

 This is extremely poisonous, and when eaten by live 

 stock with the hay or grass has been known to destroy 

 whole herds. This Fungus furnishes one of the most 

 valuable in the whole long list of drugs. Many other 

 fungi grow in the heads of grain, the most conspicuous 

 being the corn smut, which changes the whole ear 

 possibly into a large mass of dark slime when wet. and 

 brown dust when dry. This dust is the myriads of 

 spores which the Fungus produces to secure its repro- 

 duction. In a similar manner other smuts destroy the 

 oats, wheat and very many kinds of grasses and other 

 plants. 



The rusts are similar Fungi which thrive upon the 

 juices of plants and produce patches of orange or yellow 

 upon leaf or stem, the discolored portion being usually 

 swollen and the skin more or less broken. 



There is another group of Fungi known as the mil- 

 dews, and these usually produce a fine whitish coating 

 to the diseased part, due to the fine stalks that come 

 from the surface of the plant and bear the spores. 



Fungi love warmth and moisture for their greatest 

 activity, and therefore they are more in evidence in 

 midsummer when wet weather prevails than at other 

 times. The spores are so small and light that they float 

 in the air, and it is only when substances like canned 

 goods have these spores excluded by first killing those 



present and preventing access of others, that they will 

 keep unattacked, that is, sweet and edible. Substances 

 can be easily inoculated by introducing the germs, as 

 mold into potatoes, rust into a tree, or yeast into 

 dough. The number of kinds of Fungi is high among 

 the thousands, and new species are being found each 

 month, but they are so small that only specialists can 

 understand the microscopic differences that separate one 

 kind from another. Many Fungi have certain forms 

 which are assumed in the cycle of life, and in this they 

 resemble insects with their larval, pupal and imago 

 stages. This polymorphic nature has made the study 

 of the Fungi very puzzling. While a few of these plants 

 are poisonous, and many destructive to life, the greatest 

 majority are scavengers, reducing the waste products 

 to simpler and harmless forms. We could not get on 

 well without this minute and humble race of plants. 

 For further discussion, see Diseases. 



BYRON D. HALSTED. 



FtNKIA (Ludwig P. Funke, 1755-1807, and H. C. 

 Funk, 1771-1839. German naturalists). Liliacece. 

 LILY. PLANTAIN LILY. Five or six Japanese perennit 

 herbs, producing attractive clumps of foliage and inter- 

 esting blossoms. Fls. in terminal racemes or spikes, 

 white or blue ; perianth funnel-form, 6-parted and moi 

 or less irregular, the lobes not widely spreading ; sta- 

 mens 6, the filaments filiform, the anthers long-oblon 

 and versatile : pod oblong and angled, many-seeded, 

 splitting into 3 valves (Fig. 884) ; seeds flat and black, 

 winged at the apex. Monogr. by Baker, Jour. Linn. 

 Soc. 11 :366. See also, Mottet, R.H. 1897, p. 114. 



Funkias are hardy and of the easiest culture. Theii 

 dense stools or clumps of foliage are in place alonj 

 walks or drives and in the angles against buildings, 

 continuous row along a walk gives a strong and pleas- 

 ing character. Make the soil rich and deep. Thf 

 clumps improve with age. The large-leaved kinds groi 

 vigorously in moist, shady places. Of some varieties 



881. Colonies of a Fungus on a plum leaf. 

 The dead tissue sometimes falls out, leaving a shot- 

 hole effect. 



the Ivs. are strikingly variegated. Bloom in summer. 

 Foliage is killed by frost. Prop, by dividing the clumps ; 

 some species produce seeds freely, and seedlings can b 

 grown readily if seed is sown as soon as ripe. 



