CARPOSPOREX. 
285 
all possible intermediate stages exist between two extreme forms, the simplest being 
that form in which the sporocarp produces only a single spore or a single mother- 
cell in which spores are formed, the most complex being that in which the sporocarp 
exists as an independent plant and produces countless spores. 
The sporocarp is derived from a female organ which we will term the Carpo- 
gonium. It is only in the simplest case that the carpogonium is a single cell, and 
then it sometimes resembles very closely the oogonium of Class III, especially 
when, as in the Coleochsetege, fertihsation is effected by means of motile anthero- 
zoids, or when the unicellular carpogonium is fertilised by a tube growing from the 
male organ {Sordaria, PodosphcBrd)^ just as is the case in the Saprolegnieae. In the 
majority of cases, however, the carpogonium is multicellular before fertilisation, and 
its cells contribute in different ways to its further development ; some absorb the 
fertilising substance, whilst others give rise to that part of the fructification which 
produces the spores. This division of labour is very evident in the Ceramieae and 
other Florideae, as also in many Ascomycetes (e.g. Ascobolus furfuraceus). It 
occurs both in unicellular and in multicellular carpogonia that a more or less 
elongated tubular projection arises from the carpogonium, the function of which is 
the absorption of the fertihsing substance. This organ, which takes no part in the 
subsequent development of the fruit, is termed the Trichogyne, a name given by 
Thuret and Bornet to this organ in the Florideae. Like the style on the ovary 
of Phanerogams, the trichogyne of the Carposporese may be sometimes well- 
developed, and sometimes entirely absent. For instance, in Characese and in many 
Ascomycetes {Sordaria, Erysiphe) it is wanting ; it is only imperfectly developed in 
Peziza confluens, and it is well- developed in Coleochaeteae and Florideae. The male 
reproductive organ occurs in very various forms in the different groups of Carpo- 
sporese, this variety being evidently dependent upon the varying form of the carpo- 
gonium and the habitat of the plant. In Coleochaeteae and Characeae only is 
fertilisation effected by motile antherozoids ; in Florideae it is effected by cells which 
are conveyed passively, and in most Fungi by tubular outgrowths. 
Should it be suggested as an argument against the existence of a relationship 
between the true Fungi and the green plants which are included within this class, 
that the difference of habit between them is very great, it might be replied that the 
tissue of many Fungi presents striking resemblances to that of many Florideae. The 
hyphal tissue of many gelatinous Fungi finds its analogue in the gelatinous tissue of 
many Florideae. The rows of cells too, of which the mycelial filaments (hyphae) 
of Fungi consist, differ only in habit from the branched rows of cells of which the 
thallus of many Coleochaeteae and of very many Florideae consists. 
It must be remembered that, in order to detect the relationships existing 
between different groups of plants, the simplest and not the highest forms are those 
which must be compared. If this be done in this case, it becomes evident that the 
simplest Florideae are connected on the one hand with the Coleochaeteae and 
Characeae, on the other with the simplest Ascomycetes. Each of these series of 
forms, however, becomes developed into higher forms in some particular direction, 
and so if the most perfect Ascomycetes be compared with the most highly-developed 
Florideae and Coleochaeteae, only a very slight similarity between them will be 
detected. 
