PROPAGATION AND STRUCTURE 



development is very small; the vast majority of them are 

 wasted. This fact illustrates the saying that Nature is care- 

 less of the individual, but careful of the species. 



When a cast-off spore alights upon ground or decayed wood 

 or on some other spot where conditions are favorable to its 

 growth, it begins to germinate. 



First, a tiny thread grows from it and penetrates the wood 

 or loam upon which it rests. This thread, absorbing nourish- 

 ment from organic matter in contact with it grows longer 

 and sends out branches until a network of threads or fibres, 

 now easily visible, is formed. This matted network of fibres 

 or hyphae, as they are called, is known to botanists as the 

 mycelium or plant body. Those who cultivate mushrooms 

 for the market speak of it as spawn. Weeks, months or 

 even years, in some cases, must pass before the myceliimi will 

 grow and mature sufficiently for it to be ready to develop 

 fruit that will in turn produce fresh spores. 



When the proper time has arrived, little knots or enlarge- 

 ments appear at one or many places on the mycelial threads. 

 These swellings increase in size until they project outside of 

 the soil or wood in which they started to grow. Each one of 

 these knobs is destined to develop into a full-grown mush- 

 room or spore-bearing structure. 



The Structure and Parts of Gilled Mushrooms 



A fully developed, typical gilled mushroom is rather simple 

 in its gross structure. It is formed somewhat after the man- 

 ner of an umbrella and consists of three main parts correspond- 

 ing to the cover, ribs and handle. In the mushroom, these 

 parts are known as the cap, the gills and the stem, or as botan- 

 ists designate them, pileus, lamellag and stipe. 



If a gilled mushroom in the button stage of its development 

 be cut through in the middle from top to bottom, there will be 

 seen, in embryo, cap gills and stem, all enclosed in an outer 



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