THALLOPHYTA 363 
destroying barberry plants. Another very destructive rust is the 
coffee rust (Fig. 374), which has almost entirely destroyed the 
coffee industry in a number of countries in the eastern tropics. 
Eubasidti. The Hubasidii contain the largest and most con- 
spicuous of the fungi. The basidia are nonseptate, club-shaped 
structures which, typically, ° 
bear four spores (Fig. 370). 
The Hubasidi contain two 
groups, the Hymenomycetes 
and the Gasteromycetes. In 
the Hymenomycetes the ba- 
sidia are borne in a layer, the 
hymenium, which is naked 
at maturity (Fig. 370). The 
most numerous of the Hyme- 
nomycetes are the mushrooms 
(gill fungi) (Fig. 381) and 
the pore fungi (Figs. 382, 
383). In the first case the 
hymenium covers the surface 
of gills, and in the second 
ease lines numerous pores. In 
the Gasteromycetes the spores 
are inclosed in a sterile cov- 
ae | the nae pcs with a thallus form and cup-shaped fruit 
the puffballs ¢ igs. 385, 387), nonce 
earthstars (Figs. 386, 388), 
bird’s-nest fungi (Fig. 389), and stinkhorns (Figs. 390, 391). 
The last are evil-smelling fungi which are often strikingly colored 
and have fancy shapes (Figs. 390, 391). When mature the spores 
occur in a sticky mass on the cap of the fruiting body. 
Economic importance of fungi. Fungi are harmful in the 
following ways: 

Fig. 393. Lobaria pulmonaria, a lichen 
1. They cause great economic loss by producing plant diseases. 
2. They cause diseases of animals, including man. Many skin 
diseases of man are due to fungi. 
