MUSHROOMS AND THE IB KIND 



351 



titute of green parts generally live upon materials 

 which have been elaborated by other organisms. 



435. There are two general 

 ways in which this organized 

 food is obtained, — from a 

 living plant, in which case 

 the plant obtaining it is a 

 parasite; from decaying mat- 

 ter, in which case the plant 

 is a saprophyte. Mushrooms 

 live upon decaying materials 

 in the soil, and they are, 

 therefore, saprophytes. 



436. Let the pupil place 

 a piece of bread or cheese 

 under a bowl or in a closed 

 dish in a warm, moist place. 

 In a week or two the sample 

 will become moldy. If one 

 has a lens, he can find the 

 sporangia on the ends of deli- 

 cate branches of the stalks 

 or hyphse ; or they may sometimes be distin- 

 guished by the naked eye. This mold is a sap- 

 rophytic plant. 



437. These colorless (or, at least, non-chlorophyl- 

 lous) plants of the mushroom, mold, and mildew 

 type are fungi. They are exceedingly numerous, 



Pis, 367. 

 The deadly amanita. 



