SOME MYXOMYCETES OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 339 
After the spores are mature, the wall of the sporangium breaks 
open and the spores are scattered far and near by wind, animals, 
and other agencies. When the spores fall on a suitable object 
and conditions are right, the protoplasm breaks out of the heavy 
wall and either grows directly into a new plasmodium, or pro- 
duces cilia, swims about, and multiplies like the simple one-celled 
forms of animals (Fig. 291), the plasmodium being formed later 
by the fusion of these animal-like bodies. 
Some Myxomycetes of Economic Importance 
Most of the Myxomycetes are saprophytes and consequently 
the group is not so important economically as the Bacteria and 
Fungi. Of course the saprophytic forms are of some importance 
Fic. 292. — Cabbage plants attacked by the Club Root Myxomycete 
(Plasmodiophora Brassicae) which causes wart-like distortions. From Woronin. 
because they disintegrate organic matter and make it soluble, so 
that it can soak into the soil and be used by higher plants. 
There are, however, a few parasitic forms which attack some of 
our useful plants and cause considerable trouble and loss. 
