XXVI. On the fructification of certain sphœriaceous fungi

Abstract

The inquiries which have been carried on of late years with regard to the reproductive organs of Fungi, although they have caused but little progress towards the solution of the problem of sexuality, have nevertheless been by no means barren or unproductive. They have revealed the existence of a diversity in those organs, not only amongst genera and species, but in the same individual plant, to an extent which would excite surprise, if not incredulity, in the mind of an observer unacquainted with the subject or approaching it for the first time. It has been proved, that in a vast number of cases the same Fungus, or to speak more correctly, the same mycelium or vegetative system, has the power of producing fruits differing so much in form and appearance, that it would never occur to a casual observer to suppose that they were the produce of the same plant. Many Fungi placed by former observers in different genera and even in different families, are now ascertained to be different forms of fruit of one and the same plant.