Minnesota Plant Diseases. 



187 



dung-dwelling habits. They may exist as timber rots but are 

 seldom if ever abundant enough to cause serious damage. 

 <Figs. 13, 81.) 



Carrion fungi {Phallineas). 

 More unrecognizable still as 

 puff-ball relatives are the car- 

 rion fungi. In the very early 

 stages of the fruiting body, 

 however, this relationship be- 

 comes somewhat clear. The 

 mycelium usually forms whit- 

 ish strands and upon these 

 strands arise the fruiting bod- 

 ies as small spheres or pear- 

 shaped objects and as they in- 

 crease in size look superficial- 

 ly very much like puff-balls. 

 These "eggs" attain a size of 

 three or four inches in some 

 forms, while in others seldom 

 exceed a filbert nut. The tip 

 of the "&gg" is usually just at 

 the surface of the ground. 

 The outer coats of the "&gg" 

 enclose a great gelatinous 

 mass and at maturity this 

 swells up and the outer walls 

 break. There then emerges 

 from the "egg" a stalked body 

 with a terminal cap. The 

 stalk elongates rapidly from a 

 compressed condition in the 

 "&gg;" the elongation is not 

 growth but a straightening 

 out of folds, much as a sponge 

 enlarges when it absorbs wa- 

 ter. The carrion fungus cap 

 is thus raised several inches into the air in a few hours or less, 

 so that the elongation is delayed until the spores are ready for 



Fig. 94. — A carrion fungus (Dictyophora 

 ravenellii). Below are seen the rem- 

 nants of the "egg" coverings which have 

 been bioken and remain as a cup around 

 the base of the stalk. The latter is seen 

 to Be spongy; by straightening out from 

 a compressed condition it has lifted the 

 cap som? inches above the ground. The 

 cap has still a considerable spore mass 

 left; insects have, however, carried off 

 the lower portion of the spore mass. 

 The odor of the latter is that of badly 

 decayed carrion. Original. 



