PHYCOMYCETES RECOVERED FROM SOIL SAMPLES 



COLLECTED BY W. R. TAYLOR ON THE ALLAN 



HANCOCK 1939 EXPEDITION* 



(With Two Plates) 

 F. K. Sparrow, Jr. 



Through the kindness of Professor W. R. Taylor soil samples were 

 obtained from certain Central and South American localities visited by 

 him during the 1939 Allan Hancock Expedition. Water cultures were 

 prepared from each of these samples and "baited" with appropriate sub- 

 strata. Although the extreme dryness of the soil samples when received 

 undoubtedly restricted greatly the variety and number of fungi still in 

 a viable condition, they nonetheless yielded species of exceptional interest. 

 Indeed, one of these, Monoblepharella Taylort, was found to be unique 

 among plants in the behavior of the egg after fertilization. 



All the fungi recovered are known to possess a resting spore stage 

 resistant to unfavorable environmental conditions, such as drought, 

 which v^^ould be fatal to the vegetative parts. It is easy, therefore, to 

 understand how they survived the vicissitudes to which they were neces- 

 sarily exposed from the time of their collection until they reached — 

 some months later — the more congenial habitat of a battery jar of 

 sterile water provided with bits of substrata. 



The samples were collected into clean new boxes by careful methods, 

 using ordinary precautions against the possibility of mixture. They were 

 not, however, collected or stored under strictly aseptic conditions. The 

 collection boxes were taped shut immediately after collection and re- 

 mained unopened until they reached the laboratory. Pieces of soil were 

 then cut out with a sterile scalpel from the middle of each sample and 

 placed in jars of sterile water containing bits of "bait." 



The following fungi were recovered: 



* Paper from the Botany Department, University of Michigan, No. 720. 



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