x 
510 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [DECEMBER 
THE ANATOMY of the vascular plants has been treated from the stand- 
point of physiology by several writers, notably Schwendener and Haberlandt. 
The comparative anatomy of the lower plants has dwelt chiefly upon the 
reproductive processes. Istvdnffi published in 1891 in Hungarian a short 
paper entitled “Contributions to the physiological anatomy of fungi,” * and 
now offers a further contribution ” in which he pays particular attention to the 
conducting system in the Hydnee, Thelephoree, and Tomentellez. 
Necessarily he deals chiefly with the fructifications. 
Following the general plan of Schwendener and Haberlandt he classifies 
the false tissues of the fungi into four systems: (1) the merismatic, (2) the 
protective, (3) the nutritive, (4) the reproductive. 
The tissues corresponding to the meristem of higher plants are very rarely 
differentiated. The tips of many rhizomorphs, as in Armillaria mellea, show 
an extraordinary resemblance to the tips -of phanerogamous roots, which is 
heightened by the mucilaginous sheath, corresponding to the root Cap. 
Besides these growing points may be enumerated the merismatic pycnidia, 
the margin of the pileus and similar growth zones. 
The protective system is manifold. (1) To the epidermal system are to 
be referred the superficial tissues, whether formed of parallel hyphz or of 
pseudo-parenchyma; the various scales and similar structures of the higher 
Hymenomycetes ; the cortex, which may be as much as four-layered, as in 
Lactarius resimus ; the colossal cortex of the woody Polyfori ; the paraphyses 
and cystidia which prevent the stripping of the spores and are often stiffened 
by mineralization; and the various thickenings about sporangia and spores. 
(2) The mechanical system includes all arrangements for maintaining bodily 
form. These are: in single celled species the elasticity of walls and turgor; 
in multicellular ones transverse walls; thickening of walls; the protective 
tissues, sometimes forming an outer skeleton; the rosette-like or cylindrical 
groups of bladdery hyphze as in the Agaricineee; and the palisade-like 
grouping of the basidia, 
he nutritive system includes (1) an absorptive system, (2) a conducting 
system, (3) a storage system, (4) an aerating system, and (5) an excretory and 
secretory system. 
The absorptive tissues include the general mycelium when submerged, the 
haustoria and appressoria, and the various compound forms into which hyphe 
are united (bands, cords, strands, or membranes), serving also a mechanical 
function. 
The conducting system, to which Istvdnffi has given chief attention by 
8 Adatok a gombak physiologiai anatomidjahoz, Természetrajzi Fiizetek 15: 
52-67. pl. 7. 1891 
9 Untersuchungen iiber die physiologische Anatomie der Pilze mit besonderer 
Beriicksichtigung des Leitungssystems bei den Hydnei, Thelephorei und Tomentellei, 
Jahrb. f 
ahrb. f. wiss. Botanik 29: 391-440. is. 5. 1896. 
