. British fungi. Fungi -- Great Britain; Botany -- Great Britain; Lichens. DISEASES CAUSED BY FUNGI 63 and at the present day have become so liighly specialized tliat they are bound down for their existence to the presence of a single kind of host-plant. In addition to victimizing plants, fungi are also parasitic on members of the animal kingdom, insects perhaps being the greatest sufferers, myriads of insects being destroyed annually by parasitic fungi. The white halo that surrounds a dead fly on a window- ])ane is a fungus. Most insects are infected by spores while alive. The spores germinat
. British fungi. Fungi -- Great Britain; Botany -- Great Britain; Lichens. DISEASES CAUSED BY FUNGI 63 and at the present day have become so liighly specialized tliat they are bound down for their existence to the presence of a single kind of host-plant. In addition to victimizing plants, fungi are also parasitic on members of the animal kingdom, insects perhaps being the greatest sufferers, myriads of insects being destroyed annually by parasitic fungi. The white halo that surrounds a dead fly on a window- ])ane is a fungus. Most insects are infected by spores while alive. The spores germinate and form a mycelium which slowly kills the. Cordyceps, a parasite fungus growing on a caterpillar. insect. At a later stage the fungus produces its fruit on the surface of the body of its victim. The fungus fruit often assumes the form of a club ; a common and beautiful club-shaped fungus, one to two inches high, and of a beautiful orange-red colour, is not uncommon, apparently growing out of moss or amongst dead leaves. If the fungus is removed very carefully it will be found attached to the chrysalis of an insect. In New Zealand, many of the huge cater- pillars that abound there are attacked by fungi, the mycelium of which graduahy completely fills the body of the caterpillar, and forms a dense, white, woody mass. The clubs that spring from these caterpillars are sometimes six inches in Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Massee, George, 1850-1917. London, G. Routledge
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectb, booksubjectlichens
