Part 30

To the Fungi of which the æcidium is known, whilst the remaining forms are still undetermined, but which are without doubt heterœcious, belong Æcidium elatinum, which produces the enormous “witches’ brooms” and barrel-shaped swellings on stems and branches of Abies alba; and Æcidium strobilinum (Fig. 158), which attacks Fir-cones, causing all the scales to become covered with clusters of æcidia opening by a lid. Hemileia vastatrix destroyed the coffee plantations in Asia.

Order 2. =Auriculariaceæ.= The long, transversely divided basidia bear laterally 4 long sterigmata with basidiospores (Fig. 160 B) and are united to form an hymenium on the surface of the fruit-body. Parasites or saprophytes.

Auricularia sambucina (Auricula judæ), Judas’-ear, has large fruit-bodies, which may attain the size of several inches, resembling an ear or a mussel shell. In the moist condition they are flesh-coloured, tough and gelatinous, but when dried, become hard, grey and wrinkled; the exterior is covered with short hairs; while the internal surface bears the hymenium. Habitat: stems and branches of old Elder-trees (Sambucus).

Order 3. =Tremellaceæ.= The round, pear-shaped, longitudinally divided basidia bear 4 elongated sterigmata, situated apically, and 4 basidiospores (Fig. 160 C, D), and are united into the hymenium on the surface of the fruit-body. The fruit-bodies are frequently gelatinous and quivering; similar fruit-bodies are also found in the Dacryomycetaceæ and Hydnaceæ. Simple conidiophores, which appear not infrequently in the basidiocarps, before the basidia, are known in many species. Saprophytes.

Exidia has kidney-shaped, oblong basidiospores, and small, hook-like conidia; E. glandulosa, E. albida, etc., on wood.--Craterocolla has conidiocarps; C. cerasi on Cherry-wood.--Sebacina incrustans; the yellow, fleshy, or cartilaginous fruit-bodies are found in autumn covering the ground in moist woods.--Tremella has round basidiospores; T. mesenterica has irregularly-folded, quivering, orange fruit-bodies, about one inch in breadth; T. lutescens (Fig. 161) has orange-yellow conidial-and yellow basidial-layers; T. frondosa has fruit-bodies upwards of a foot in breadth.

Order 4. =Pilacraceæ.= The transversely divided basidia have no sterigmata, but sessile basidiospores, and fill up the cavity of a closed (angiocarpic) fruit-body as a gleba without a regular arrangement (hymenium wanting).

Pilacre fagi on the old stems of the Copper-Beech; P. petersii, on dried branches of the Hornbeam, has stalked, capitate fruit-bodies.

Series 2. =Autobasidiomycetes.=

This second and larger part of the Basidiomycetes is characterised by its more highly differentiated, undivided, club-shaped, or cylindrical basidia, which generally bear 4 (seldom 2, 6, 8) apically-placed sterigmata and basidiospores (Fig. 145). The fruit-bodies are partly gymnocarpic (in the first 3 orders and in some Agaricaceæ), partly hemiangiocarpic (in orders 3–6 of the Hymenomycetes and in the Phalloideæ, the fruit-bodies in these orders are in the young conditions more or less angiocarpic, but later on generally open below and bear the hymenium on the under surface of the fruit-body), partly also angiocarpic (in the Gasteromycetes).

Family 1. =Dacryomycetes.=

The long, club-shaped basidia bear two tapering sterigmata, which develope remarkably large basidiospores (Fig. 162 II, XI) and form gymnocarpic fruit-bodies with hymenium. 1 order:

Order 1. =Dacryomycetaceæ.= This order comprises 4 genera of which the first two develope the hymenium on the whole surface of the fruit-body, but the two last only on its apex.

Dacryomyces: the folded, gelatinous, Tremella-like fruit-bodies break out in winter on dried wood (hedges) in the form of red or yellow drops. D. deliquescens is very common (Fig. 121). The following genera have cartilaginous fruit-bodies.--Calocera (Fig. 162), with club-like, simple, or branched, Clavaria-like, fruit-bodies; the orange coloured fruit-bodies of C. viscosa grow aggregated together on the wood of Conifers.--Guepinia resembles a Peziza, and has the hymenium only on the hollow upper surface.--Dacryomitra resembles a Mitrula (Fig. 162).

Family 2. =Hymenomycetes.=

This family is very rich in species (more than 8000 have been described), and to it belong all the “Mushrooms” and “Toadstools.” The fruit-bodies present very various forms; they are generally fleshy, very perishable, seldom leathery or corky, in the last case often perennial. The basidia are more or less cylindrical and bear generally 4 (seldom 2, 6 or 8) sterigmata and basidiospores. The hymenium in the fully-formed fruit-bodies lies free on the surface: in orders 1 and 2 and a portion of order 6 it is from the commencement exposed, fruit-bodies gymnocarpic; orders 3–6 have hemiangiocarpic fruit-bodies (p. 157). In the first order the basidia (or the hymenium) are developed immediately from the mycelium (Fig. 163); the fruit-bodies of orders 2 and 3 present a higher grade of development, and have between the mycelium and hymenium a special hyphal-tissue, a stroma, which is crustaceous, club-like, or coralloid, etc., and in general bears the hymenium on the largest part of the free, smooth surface. In the forms most highly developed (orders 4–6) a new tissue--the hymenophore--is introduced between the stroma and hymenium, which appears on the under side of the fruit-body in the form of warts, projections, tubes, folds or lamellæ (Figs. 166, 167, 174 bc). Paraphyses are frequently found in the hymenium, among the basidia. In the Hymenomycetes few examples of conidia can be recognised at first. More frequently chlamydospores are found, particularly oidia. The mycelium is richly branched, generally colourless, often perennial; it lives in humus or decaying wood, and is seldom parasitic. The hyphæ generally have clamp-connections and unite, sometimes, to form a rhizomorpha (Fig. 177) or sclerotia with coloured, pseudo-parenchymatous covering.

Order 1. =Tomentellaceæ.= To this order belong the simplest of the Hymenomycetes. The basidia (Fig. 145) arise free and irregularly from the mycelium; a hymenium is entirely absent or very slightly formed (in Corticium it attains its highest development); fruit-bodies are also wanting.--In general they form flaky, membranous or leathery coverings on bark and wood. Some are parasites.

Hypochnus without conidia.--Tomentella with conidiophores; growing on wood or earth.--Exobasidium vaccinii (Fig. 163), a parasite on Vaccinium, Andromeda, Arctostaphylos, and Rhododendron, forms flaky-powdery, white or red coverings and may cause hypertrophy of the parts attacked. E. warmingii is parasitic on Saxifraga; E. lauri causes outgrowths on the stem of Laurus canariensis as long as a finger, which formerly were regarded as aerial roots.--Corticium forms membranous to leathery layers or crusts; C. quercinum on wood and bark, particularly Oak, is flesh-coloured; C. cæruleum has a blue hymenium; C. giganteum on the bark of fallen Pine-trees.

Order 2. =Clavariaceæ.= The hymenium is situated on a stroma, and either completely covers the smooth surface of the more or less fleshy gymnocarpic fruit-body, or is confined to a tolerably well defined upper portion of it (Typhula). Paraphyses absent. The vertical, white, yellow, or red fruit-bodies are roundish or club-like, undivided or richly branched (Fig. 125). Generally on the ground in woods, seldom on tree-stems, etc.

GENERA: Clavaria, generally large Fungi with thick, round branches. C. botrytis has a very thick, tubercular stem with numerous short, flesh-coloured branches: it has an agreeable taste. C. coralloides has a brittle, richly-branched fruit-body (Fig. 164); basidia with two large spores. C. pistillaris consists of a single, undivided club of a yellowish-white colour.--Sparassis has compressed, leaf-like, curled branches; S. crispa has fruit-bodies as large as a white cabbage-head, with an agreeable taste.--Typhula and Pistillaria are small Fungi with filamentous stalks, terminating in a small club. The fruit-bodies of the former often arise from a small, spheroid sclerotium; the latter is distinguished by the basidia bearing only two spores.

Order 3. =Thelephoraceæ.= The hymenium is placed on a stroma and covers the smooth surface of the leathery hemiangiocarpic fruit-body, generally on its under side. The edge of the stroma, which bounds the hymenium, is sometimes especially developed (Stereum). Saprophytes.

GENERA: Thelephora. The fruit-bodies in this genus are brown, very irregularly shaped, and often lobed. The spores too are brown, but in the other genera colourless. The species are found growing on barren soil. T. laciniata (Fig. 165) has imbricate, semicircular, dark-brown pileus, which is jagged at the edge and upper surface. The fruit-bodies are very often raised above the ground, and although this species is not a parasite, yet it destroys young seedlings by growing above and smothering them.--Stereum has a stiffer fruit-body, with a distinct, fibrous, intermediate layer. It grows on bark and wood, projecting like a series of imbricate brackets. S. hirsutum is yellow; its free edge is provided with a number of stiff hairs, the upper surface being divided into a number of zones. S. purpureum has a red-violet hymenium which distinguishes it from the previous species.--Cyphella has a membranous cup- or bell-shaped fruit-body, often borne on a stalk, the concave surface being covered with the hymenium. They are small, white Fungi, growing on Moss and dead stems.--Solenia is closely related to Cyphella; its fruit-bodies are smaller and hairy; they are found clustered together forming a crust-like covering on dead wood.--Craterellus has a large, funnel-shaped fruit-body, the hymenium covering the external surface. C. cornucopioides is shaped like a trumpet or a “horn of plenty.” It is dark-grey, several inches in height, and grows gregariously on the ground in forests. It is distinguished by the basidia bearing only two sterigmata.

Order 4. =Hydnaceæ.= The fruit-body is most frequently fleshy, and varies considerably in shape, the simplest forms being resupinate, the higher ones umbrella-like. The hymenophore is found on the free or downward-turned surface, and always takes the form of soft emergences hanging vertically downwards. The emergencies may be thorn-, awl-, or wart-like. The species are found growing on the soil and on dead wood.

GENERA: Hydnum has subulate, distinct emergences. H. repandum is yellow, the stalk being placed in the centre of the pileus. It is an edible species, and often forms “fairy rings” in woods. H. auriscalpium (Fig. 166) is dark-brown, with stalk placed at the edge of the pileus. It grows on old Fir-cones. H. erinaceus grows on old tree-trunks. The fruit-body is yellow and very large--as big as a human head--with emergences as much as an inch in length.--Irpex has a leathery fruit-body, partly resupinate, partly with free, projecting edge; the under side bears tooth-like emergences which are arranged in rows, and Irpex thus forms a transition to the Agaricaceæ.--Phlebia is entirely resupinate, with radially-arranged folds on the free side, and pectinate border.

Order 5. =Polyporaceæ (Pore-Fungi).= An order very rich in species (about 2000 species are described). The fruit-body is of very different forms--resupinate, projecting like a bracket, hoof-like, or umbrella-shaped. In some it is fleshy and edible, in others leathery or corky, persisting for several years. The hymenophore is situated on the under side of the fruit-body, and consists of wide or narrow tubes or pores, whose inner surface is clothed with the hymenium (Fig. 167). In some fruit-bodies large cavities are to be found, which have arisen as interstices between the labyrinthine curved and reticulate folds. Chlamydospores are known in some species. Conidia occur very rarely. Many species work considerable damage: some as parasites on trees, others by destroying timber.

GENERA. Polyporus (Pore-Fungus). The tubes are narrow, accurately fitted together, and forming a thick layer on the under side of the fruit-body, appearing as a number of fine holes. The fruit-body most frequently resembles a bracket, or is hoof-shaped, with one side growing from a tree-trunk; it is very often perennial, and a new layer of tubes arises in each succeeding period of vegetation. Strata, corresponding to the periodically interrupted growth, are thus formed in storeys one above the other, and are visible on the upper surface of the fruit-body, as well as in the interior, as a series of concentric belts, sometimes as many as half a score or more in number. P. fomentarius (Touchwood) attacks trees, especially the Beech. The spores germinate on wounds from broken branches, and the hyphæ, following the course of the medullary rays, find their way into the interior of the tree, from whence the mycelium spreads upwards, downwards, and peripherally, so that the wood becomes rotten (“white-rot”) and thick felts of mycelium are formed in radial and tangential directions. A dark line, caused by the youngest parts of the hyphæ containing a brown juice, marks the boundary between the rotten and the unattacked parts of the stem (Fig. 168); at places where the mycelium extends to the bark, the cambium becomes destroyed and further growth is arrested, so that longitudinal furrows arise on the stem. It is at these places, too, that the hoof-shaped, ash-coloured fruit-bodies are developed, which may attain a circumference of upwards of 7 feet. The interior of the fruit-body consists of a dried-up, loosely felted, red-brown mass of hyphæ, which has been used for tinder and as a styptic (“Fungus chirurgorum”). P. igniarius has a harder, dark-brown, more rounded fruit-body; it grows in a similar manner, but especially attacks Oaks, Poplars, and Plum-trees, the wood of which becomes rotten, and is called touchwood. P. pini (Trametes pini), (Fig. 170), a parasite on the stems of Pinus, causes a kind of “red-rot” in the stem. P. sulphureus has a soft, cheesy, yellow fruit-body; it produces “rot” in Oaks and Apple-trees. P. officinalis, Larch-fungus (“Fungus Laricis” in Pharmocopœia), grows on Larch-trees in the south-east of Europe. P. versicolor has thin, semicircular fruit-bodies, with zones of various colours on the upper side; it is one of the most frequent species on tree-stems. P. frondosus grows on soil in woods, and consists of numerous aggregated fruit-bodies, which become very large and fleshy. This species is edible. P. perennis also grows on the soil in woods; it is very leathery, with central stalk, and has concentric zones on the upper surface of the fruit-body. P. vaporarius destroys the wood of living Pines (Pinus silvestris) and Firs (Picea excelsa), causing it to become red-brown; in timber this Fungus causes “red-strip” followed by a “dry-rot.” P. squamosus destroys many Walnut-trees, and is also very destructive to Limes and Elms. P. fulvus causes a “white-rot” in Abies alba.

Heterobasidion annosum (Polyporus annosus, Trametes radiciperda, Fig. 169) is characterized by its Aspergillus-like conidiophores. It is a parasite on the Pine, Fir, Birch, Beech, etc., and is the chief cause of a root-disease (red-rot) in Pines and Firs; the fruit-bodies develope a large number of basidiospores; they may be very large and are found just beneath the surface of the soil (on living or dead roots), and exposed to the air (on felled stems and roots, in Scandinavia).

Ptychogaster has cushion-like fruit-bodies, which consist chiefly of chlamydospore-chains, formed of ellipsoidal spores, which alternate with short hyphæ having transverse septa and clamp-connections. The hymenial portion is limited to a small group of tubes. Pt. albus (Oligorus ustilaginoides) grows on stumps of Conifers and forms irregular cushions, at first white and later on brown, which consist almost entirely of chlamydospores.

Boletus (Fig. 171) has a fleshy fruit-body resembling a common Mushroom, with central stalk. The layer of tubes is easily detached from the pileus, and the tubes are easily separable from one another. They grow on the ground in woods. Edible species are: B. edulis, with thick, reticulate stalk; B. scaber, with thin stalk and rough pileus; B. luteus, with a ring on the stalk. B. luridus is poisonous, its tubes have red openings, and the flesh turns quickly blue when broken and exposed to the air.