288 
PLANT STUDIES 
These spores, called basidiospores, shower down from the 
gills when ripe, germinate, and produce new mycelia. The 
peculiar cell called the basidium gives name to the group 
Basidiomycetes. 
191. Other forms. Mushrooms display a great variety of 
form and coloration, many of them being very attractive 
FIG. 261. A toadstool of the bracket form which has grown about blades of grass 
without interfering with their activity. CALDWELL. 
(Figs. 257, 258, 259). The " pore-fungi " have pore-like de- 
pressions for their spores, instead of gills, as in the very 
common " bracket-fungus " (Polyporus), which forms hard 
shell-like outgrowths on tree-trunks and stumps (Figs. 260, 
