4 
DEVELOPMENT 
The presence of oxalate of lime in the walls of hyphae 
probably affords protection against attacks by slugs (many 
species feed exclusively on non-chlorophyllaceous food); it 
is especially abundant in the hyphae of the common Stink- 
horn ( Phallus impudicus ), in which “ certain large globose or 
flask-shaped vesicular cells are almost filled with a radiately 
crystalline mass of oxalate of lime.” 
Mycelium is usually white, but is occasionally coloured— 
e.g., in Corticium sanguinemn it is blood-red ; in the little green 
Elfcup ( Peziza amiginosa ) it is verdigris green, imparting its 
colour to the wood it infests. 
A very thick, hard, cord-like form of mycelium is known 
as 'vhizomovph. It was long thought to be an independent 
fungus. It is associated with many species; the black 
rhizomorphs of the Honey Agaric ( Armillaria mellea ) are 
perhaps the best known, being of frequent occurrence 
between the bark and the wood, and about the roots of 
various trees in a state of decay. 
Rhizomorphs are frequently phosphorescent. They may 
be kept in a dried state for a considerable time, and will 
afterwards grow afresh if put into water, but the new growth 
alone will be phosphorescent. Though phosphorescence is 
chiefly associated with algae and fungi, it has been observed 
in all the larger groups of the animal kingdom; also amongst 
the higher plants— i.e., in a poppy, a lily, and some grasses. 
The majority of fungi which exhibit the phenomenon are 
white-spored agarics frequenting dead wood, and occur most 
abundantly in Australia. In all it is more noticeable at the 
points of most vigorous growth— i.e., the gills, apex of stem, 
and margin of pileus. The light given off is bluish in 
mycelium in rotten wood, and green in some agarics. 
Worthington Smith has observed phosphorescence in Fomes 
annosus growing on timber in the Cardiff coal-mines. The 
miners are well acquainted with it, and say that sufficient 
light is sometimes emitted “ to see the hands by.” The 
