680 



THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



Of complex forms with citromata we may mention Gordyceps, Xylaria, and 

 Olaviceps. Gordyceps militaris and other species attack caterpillars. The germ- 

 tube having once effected an entrance into the body of the caterpillar and estab- 

 lished itself in the superficial layers begins to sprout vigorously, these sprouts being 

 carried in the blood to all parts of the body. The sprouts now grow into hyphse, 

 and gradually the whole caterpillar is replaced by a dense fungal tissue which 



rig. 386.— The Ergot of Eye, Claviceps purpurea. 



8 Stied ^ZZVZ T t "'^^""P^- ' «<»"«'» «"=tog from the mycelium which develops around the ovary, 

 hec'a atthe eXl ZZ T ?' ^'f ""T- ' ^""^itudiual .eotlon through the head of a stroma showing the peri- 

 po es 8 Mam?nt„ Jll Ts"" ^^"""^^ '"" ^"^'^'"'^ *'"'"S *h« ''"''■ " ^'"^ ' ^scus Uberating its fllamentous 



spores. 8 Mameutous spores, '."uat. size; 2x200; 4x40; »x60; « and 'xTOO; 8x760. (Partly after Tulasne.) 



maintains outwardly the form and appearance of the caterpillar, although of animal 

 substance but little traces are left. This fungal mass is known as a sclerotium, and 

 it can remain dormant for some time. Ultimately a branching stroma arises from 

 the sclerotium (Gordyceps Taylori, fig. 385 \ p. 679), or, in C. militaris, several club- 

 shaped stromata. These remarkable stromata are covered with little papillae on 

 their lower portion, and each of these papilla corresponds to a perithecium 

 <figs. 385 2 and 385 ^). The spores in the asci are long and slender (cf. fig. 385 *). A 



