CHAPTER IX 

 FOSSIL FUNGI AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION 



Fungi in the Fossil State. ^ — ^All the known fossil fungi numbering 

 over 400 species have been figured and described by Meschinelli in his 

 "Fungorum fossilium omnium Iconographia " published in 1898. 

 Zeiller in discussing the chronologic sequence of the groups of fungi 

 states that representatives of the families Chytrideace^, Mucora- 

 CBM, and PeronospoeacEjE have been found in the tissues of the 

 higher plants preserved in rocks of lower Carboniferous and Permian 

 ages. Many different plants extending from the Carboniferous period 

 upward show various forms of the ASCOMYCETALES on leaves and 

 in the tissues especially those of the stems. The fleshy fungi of the 

 families AGARiCACE.a; and Polyporace^ have been found in deposits 

 of tertiary age. Weiss has announced the discovery of a mycorrhiza 

 in the root of a probable Lycopodiaceous plant of the lower Carbonif- 

 erous strata. Where Polyporus and Lenzites occur, as in the brown 

 coals, silicified woods occur which have been half destroyed by their 

 mycelia. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF FUNGI 



This important and interesting subject can be presented in the barest 

 outline. The modern teaching of geography emphasizes home geog- 

 raphy as a fundamental study. In following this suggestion in the 

 investigation of the local fungi, it will be found that we must deal 

 with distinct habitats, such as leaf mold, sandy soil, wet soil, decayed 

 logs, tree stumps, living trees, Hving herbs and the like. The black 

 mould, Rhizopus nigricans, is one of the commonest of fungi. It occurs 

 on bread and other organic substrata, such as sweet potatoes, whenever 

 the conditions are suitable for its growth. If horse manure is covered 

 with a bell jar with wet paper inside, there develops first the gray 

 mould, Mucor mucedo. This is accompanied or followed by Pilobolus 



'Seward, A. C. Fossil Plants, 1898: 207-222. 



Weiss, F. E.. A Mycorrhiza from tlie Lower Coal Measures. Annals of Botany 

 xviii: 255 with 2 plates. 



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