100 
Mycologia . 
and fungi. Of course, these errors of statement result largely 
from clinging to the traditional phraseolog)^ 
Text-Book Treatments of Lichens 
Writers of text-books on plant morphology have, with a few 
notable exceptions, signally failed to be consistent in their treat- 
ment of lichens. The 1908 edition of the Strasburger (126) 
text says on page 348 : “ Lichens are symbiotic organisms ; they 
consist of filamentous fungi, usually Ascomycetes, rarely Basi- 
diomycetes, which live in intimate relationship with unicellular or 
filamentous algae, Cyanophyceae or Chlorophyceae, and together 
with these, form a compound thallus or consortium.” (“Die 
Flechten sind symbiotische Organismen, sie bestehen aus Faden- 
pilzen und zwar aus Asconiyceten, nur in ganz vereinzelten Fallen 
aus Basidiomyceten, welche mit einzelligen oder fadigen Algen, 
Cyanophyceen oder Chlorophyceen, gemeinsam vegetieren und so 
einen zusammengesetzen Thallus, ein Konsortium bilden.”) This 
expresses clearly the peculiar idea that the lichen is a fungus and 
that the consortium is the lichen plus the alga with which it is 
associated. But the next sentence reads thus : “ The lichen-fungi 
and the lichen-algae should, in a natural system, be classified with 
the nearest related fungi and algae.” (Die Flechtenpilze und 
Flechtenalgen sind im natiirlichen System in die gruppen der 
nachstvenvandten Pilze und Algen einzureihen.) This contra- 
dicts the first statement and indicates that the intention was to 
regard the lichen as a consortium. Fortunately, Lang has cor- 
rected the inconsistent statement in the English edition, but the 
German student still meets this incoherent treatment in his lead- 
ing text-book. 
The Warming-Potter (139) text of 1895 says: “The lichens 
are fungi . . . which have entered into a peculiar symbiotic rela- 
tionship with algae.” This is coherent and easily understood. 
But a little below the authors say, “ The fungus forms the largest 
portion of the lichen”; and one wonders how it is, if the lichen 
is a fungus, as stated in the first quotation, that it does not, as 
stated in the second, form all of itself. The Curtis (45) text of 
1907 has this statement : “ The lichen is one of the most remark- 
