RELATIONS OF PLANTS TO EACH OTHER 201 



The loose soil is inhabited by scores of species of 

 fungi, which send their long strands in every direc- 

 tion, and occasionally develop the sporophyte in 

 the form of stalked capsules, puff-balls, or um- 

 brella-shaped " toadstools " or " mushrooms," while 

 the soil is teeming with bacteria, which cause the 

 decay of the leaves. It would be most interest- 

 ing to compare the carpet of a swampy portion 

 of the forest with that of a slope or wooded hill. 



240. Relations of members of the forest. — The 

 relations of the members of the forest are most 

 close and intimate. A disturbance of one is likely 

 to influence all the others. Thus the leaves and 

 twigs from the trees form a light layer of loose soil 

 or humus necessary for the growth of mosses and 

 ferns, and the freshly fallen layer covers over the 

 members of the carpet each autumn with a blanket 

 which protects them from the extremes of the winter. 

 On the other hand, the destruction of the forest and 

 the loose soil by fire, or the action of grazing animals, 

 would result in injuries to the trees. 



241. Time of blooming. — It needs but the most 

 casual acquaintance with plants to know that they do 

 not all bloom and ripen seeds at the same time of the 



