THALLOPHYTES : FUNGI 



69 



been discovered. The life history seems simple, but this 

 apparent simplicity may represent a very complicated his- 

 tory. The structure of the common mushroom {Agari- 

 cus) will serve as an illustration of the group (Fig. 55). 



49. A common 

 mushroom. — The 

 mycelium, of white 

 branching threads, 

 spreads extensively 

 through the decay- 

 ing substratum, 

 and in cultivated 

 forms is spoken of 

 as the " spawn." 

 Upon this myce- 

 lium little knob- 

 like prottiberances 

 begin to arise, gro w- 

 ing larger and 

 larger, until they 

 are organized into 

 the so-called 

 " mushrooms." 

 The real body of 

 the plant is the 

 white thread - like 

 mycelium, while 

 the " mushroom " 

 part seems to rep- 

 resent a great num- 

 ber of sporophores 

 organized together 

 to form a single 

 complex spore- 

 bearing structure. 



The mushroom 

 23 



Pig. 56. A commoD Agaricu.8 : A, section through one 

 6ide of pilens, showing sections of the pendent gills; 

 J3, section of a gill more enlarged, showing the cen- 

 tral tissue, and the broad border formed by the ba- 

 sidia : C, still more enlarged section of one side of 

 ii gill, showing the club-shaped basidia standing at 

 right angles to the surface, and sending out a pair 

 of small branches, each of which bears a single ba- 

 sidiospore. — After Sachs. 



