STRUCTURE 01'' I'UNGI. 45 



threads or of their ramifications, wlien they arc called Spores 

 (Plate 1, fig. 1 a). Hence when Fungi are reduced to the 

 very simplest forms under which they can appear, we have on 

 the one hand the genus Gymnosporium (Plate 1, fig. 8), which 

 consists of an almost rudimentary base or spawn, for no 

 Fungus can grow without* some cells or threads, however 

 obscure, from which the fruit may spring. On the other hand, 

 we have the genus Ascomyces (Plate 1, fig. 9), consisting in 

 like manner of asci filled with sporidia. 



In these cases the reproductive organs predominate to the 

 almost total exclusion of the vegetative. In almost every 

 case, however, the parts which bear those organs are the most 

 conspicuous, and often the only ^nes which attract general 

 notice. The pileus of an Agaric, for instance, with its stem 

 and gills, or, speaking collectively, the fruit, is far more pro- 

 minent than the spawn or mycelium. The largest Agaric, 

 however, admits of close comparison with the simplest Mould. 

 Let us take as an example Botrytis (Plate 1, fig. 7). We 

 have three evident parts : the horizontal threads which creep 

 amongst the loose tissue of the under side of the leaves, which 

 answers to the spawn of the Mushroom ; the erect threads 

 which spring from it, bursting through the stomates, which 

 are represented in the Mushroom by the threads or cellular 

 tissue of which the stem of the Mushroom is composed, and 

 which, branching in every direction, pass into the cap, and 

 from thence into the gills,t where their free extremities 



* The Yeast-plant may seem an exception. It must be remembered, how- 

 ever, that it is originally derived from a Mould or Moulds, whieh have two dis- 

 tinct parts, the spawn, or, as it is called in this case, hyplia, and the fruit- 

 bearing threads. 



t According to Bonordcn, in some cases the external cells of the stem form 

 the fructifying portion of the gills, but this is exceptional, the fructifying tissue 

 of those organs being in general derived iVoni the cells of the cap or pileus. 



