3° 



BASIDIOMYCETES 



in 



r ig. 23. Russula rubra. Portion of 

 hymenium. sh, sub-hymenial layer ; 



eans of the spores, the "spawn" being invariably used for this purpose 



in cultivation, and probably acting in 



a similar way in nature also. 



The above description of the com- 

 mon edible mushroom will apply to 1 

 large number of related fungi. 



Polyporaceae. Plate 4, Fig. D. 

 The fruit-body consists of a stalk and 

 a pileus, but the hymenium, instead o( 

 occurring on gills, lines the inner sur- 

 face of a large number of slender, closeli 

 packed tubes (pores), lying at right 



angles to, and opening upon, the under 



surface of the pileus. The hymenium 



itself is very similar to that of Psaltiota. 



A, basidia; s, sterigmata; sp> spores; The layer of pores in Boletus is rather 

 p paraphyses; c, cystid, 540/1. thick and is easily detached from the 

 (From Strasbureer, I ex t book) r , ., 



6 ' ; rest of the pileus. 



Gasteromy cetes. Of these, two families are of interest, viz. Lycoper- 

 daceae and Phalloideae. 



Lycoperdaceae. The puff-balls (Plate 3, Figs. E and F). When 

 young the whole of the dark brown (fertile) part in Figure E is made up 

 of a number of irregularly-shaped cavities in a mass of mycelium. Each 

 cavity is lined with hymenium (similar to that of l y s<il/iuici), and as the spores 

 ripen all the rest of the fertile part of the fruit-body breaks down to form 

 a watery fluid, with the exception of some thick-walled, branched hyphae 

 called CCLpillitia. The fluid gradually dries up, leaving the spores and 

 capillitia as a dry powdery mass, forming a cloud of brown dust if the fruit- 

 body is accidentally broken. (Hence the name " Puff-ball.") 



Plate 3, Figure F, 1 and 2, represent respectively young and 

 mature fruit-bodies of one of the "earth stars." It differs from Lycoperdon 

 chiefly in the fact that the outer covering of the fruit-bod)- (the outer 

 peridium), splits regularly from the apex outwards, and becomes bent 

 out or reflexed, giving the whole plant, looked at from above, its' characteristic 

 star-like appearance. In other respects the structure of Geaster is very similar 

 to that of Lycoperdon. 



Phalloideae. One of the most striking of South African fungi is the 

 rather rare plant shown in Plate 3, big. I), viz. Anthurus MacOwani. When 

 young the fruit-bodies of all phalloids look just like white eggs peeping half 

 out of the ground. Our example, in this stage, is about the size of a hen's 

 egg. Later the "egg" splits irregularly at the apex, and the enclosed 

 structure rapidly grows out. Without going into detail it may be mentioned 

 that a small portion of the centre of the young fruit-bod)' has a similar 

 structure to the fertile part of Lycoperdun, but before the " egg " bursts, this 

 part disintegrates and forms a dark liquid in which the spores are suspended. 



