Minnesota Plant Diseases. 



15 



contains nutrient mate- 

 rial in the form of oils 

 and other compounds. 

 This ergot remains dor- 

 mant through winter 

 and in the spring pro- 

 duces reproductive bod- 

 ies. Certain carrion fun- 

 gi form storage organs. 

 They are found under the 

 ground, developed on 

 strands of the mycelium. 

 In this case the storage 

 organ has packed up its 

 food material in the form 

 of a starch peculiar to 

 fungi and known as fun- 

 gus starch. Certain pore 

 fungi produce very large 

 underground storage or- 

 gans. Such is probably 

 the "Tuckahoe Indian 

 Bread" of the southeast- 

 ern states. This storage 

 organ is often about the 

 size of a small cantaloupe 

 and of heavy doughy 

 consistency. A certain 

 pore fungus of Australia 

 produces storage organs 

 of immense size and these 

 are used by the natives 

 for food. The caterpillar 

 fungus furnishes an ex- 

 ample of a storage organ 

 of some interest. The 

 fungus attacks living cat- 

 erpillars and the myceli- 



FlG. 5. — Strands of mycelial threads of the dry- 

 rot fungus (Merulius lacrymans). See also 

 Figs. 120, 121 and 122. Oririnal. 



