Effects of the Vine Disease on Commerce, 1859;" "Reports of H.
M. Secretaries of Embassy, &c., on Manufactures and Commerce,
Vine Disease in Bavaria and Switzerland, 1859," pp. 54 and 62.
[f] C. H. Peek, "On the Black Knot," in "Quekett Microscopical
Journal," vol. iii. p. 82.
[g] Cooke, "Microscopic Fungi," p. 177.
[h] "Grevillea," i. p. 90.
[i] "Gardener's Chronicle," 1873.
[j] "Gardener's Chronicle," 1852, p. 627, with fig.
[k] "Podisoma Macropus," Hook, "Journ. Bot." vol. iv. plate xii. fig.
6.
[l] Berkeley, in "Gardener's Chronicle," 1862, p. 308.
[m] "Gardener's Chronicle," August 22, 1874, p. 243.
XI.
HABITATS.
It commonly happens that one of the first inquiries which the student
seeks to have answered, after an interest is excited in fungi,
is--Where, and under what circumstances, are they to be found? The
inexperienced, indeed, require some guide, or much labour will be
expended and patience lost in seeking microscopic forms in just such
places as they are least likely to inhabit. Nor is it wholly
unprofitable or uninteresting for others, who do not claim to be
students, to summarize the habitats of these organisms, and learn how
much the circumstances of their immediate surrounding elements
influence production. For reasons which will at once be recognized by
the mycologist, the most satisfactory method of study will be somewhat
that of the natural groups into which fungi are divided.
AGARICINI.--There is such a close affinity between all the genera of
this group that it will be a manifest advantage to take together all
those fleshy pileate fungi, the fruit of which is borne on folded
plates or gills. It must be premised of this group that, for the
majority, shade, a moderate amount of moisture, and steady warmth, but
not too great heat, are required. A stroll through a wood in autumn
will afford good evidence of the predilection of _Agaricini_, as well
as some smaller groups, for such spots. A larger proportion will be
found in woods, where shade is afforded, than on open heaths or
pastures. These wood-loving forms will consist, again, of those which
appear on the soil, and those which are found on rotten stumps and
decaying trees. Many of those which grow on trees have a lateral
stem, or scarcely any stem at all. It may be remarked, that some
species which spring from the soil delight most in the shelter of
particular trees. The Agarics of a beech wood will materially differ
largely from those in an oak wood, and both will differ from those
which spring up beneath coniferous trees.
It may be accepted as true of the largest proportion of terrestrial
species, that if they do not spring directly from rotten leaves, and
vegetable débris in the last stage of decay, the soil will be rich in
vegetable humus. A few only occur on sandy spots. The genus
_Marasmius_ is much addicted to dead leaves; _Russula_, to open
places in woods, springing immediately from the soil. _Lactarius_
prefers trees, and when found in exposed situations, occurs mostly
under the shadow of trees.[A] _Cantharellus_, again, is a woodland
genus, many of the species loving to grow amongst grass or moss,
and some as parasites on the latter. _Coprinus_ is not a genus much
addicted to woods, but is rather peculiar in its attachment to
man--if such expression, or one even implying domesticity, might
be employed--farmyards, gardens, dunghills, the base of old gateposts
and railings, in cellars, on plaster walls, and even on old damp
carpets. _Hygrophorus_ loves "the open," whether pastures, lawns,
heaths, commons, or up the slopes of mountains, nearly to the top of
the highest found in Great Britain. _Cortinarius_ seems to have a
preference for woods, whilst _Bolbitius_ affects dung, or a rich
soil. _Lentinus_, _Panus_, _Lenzites_, and _Schizophyllum_ all grow on
wood. Coming to the subgenera of _Agaricus_, we find _Pleurotus_,
_Crepidotus_, _Pluteus_, _Collybia_, _Pholiota_, _Flammula_,
_Hypholoma_, and some species of _Psathyra_ growing on wood, old
stumps, or charcoal; _Amanita_, _Tricholoma_, and _Hebeloma_ most
attached to woods; _Clitocybe_ and _Mycena_ chiefly amongst leaves;
_Nolanea_ amongst grass; _Omphalia_ and _Galera_ chiefly in swampy
places; _Lepiota_, _Leptonia_, _Psalliota_, _Stropharia_, _Psilocybe_,
and _Psathyrella_ mostly in open places and pastures; _Deconica_
and _Panæolus_ mostly on dung; _Entoloma_ and _Clitopilus_ chiefly
terrestrial, and the rest variable.
Of special habitats, we may allude to _Nyctalis_, of which the species
are parasitic on dead fungi belonging to the genus _Russula_. One or
two species of _Agaricus_, such as _Agaricus tuberosus_ and _Agaricus
racemosus_, P., grow on decaying Agarics, whilst _Agaricus Loveianus_
flourishes on _Agaricus nebularis_ even before it is thoroughly
decayed. A few species grow on dead fir cones, others on old ferns,
&c. _Agaricus cepoestipes_, Sow., probably of exotic origin, grows on
old tan in hothouses. _Agaricus caulicinalis_, Bull, flourishes on old
thatch, as well as twigs, &c. _Agaricus juncicola_, Fr., affects dead
rushes in boggy places, whilst _Agaricus affricatus_, Fr., and
_Agaricus sphagnicola_, B., are attached to bog moss in similar
localities. Some few species are almost confined to the stems of
herbaceous plants. _Agaricus petasatus_, Fr., _Agaricus cucumis_, P.,
and _Paxillus panuoides_, F., have a preference for sawdust. _Agaricus
carpophilus_, Fr., and _Agaricus balaninus_, P., have a predilection
for beech mast. _Agaricus urticoecola_, B. and Br., seems to confine
itself to nettle roots. _Coprinus radians_, Fr., makes its appearance
on plaster walls, _Coprinus domesticus_, Fr., on damp carpets. The
only epizoic species, according to M. Fries, is _Agaricus cerussatus
v. nauseosus_, which has been met with in Russia on the carcase of a
wolf; this, however, might have been accidental. Persoon described
_Agaricus Neapolitanus_, which was found growing on coffee-grounds at
Naples; and more recently Viviani has described another species,
_Agaricus Coffeæ_, with rose-coloured spores, found on old fermenting
coffee-grounds at Genoa.[B] Tratinnick figures a species named
_Agaricus Markii_, which was found in wine casks in Austria. A
_Coprinus_ has, both in this country and on the Continent, been found,
after a very short time, on the dressing of wounds, where there has
been no neglect. A curious case of this kind, which at the time
excited great interest, occurred some fifty years since at St.
George's Hospital. Some species appear to confine themselves to
particular trees, some to come up by preference on soil in garden
pots. Certain species have a solitary, others a gregarious habit, and,
of the latter, _Agaricus grammopodius_, Bull, _Agaricus gambosus_,
Fr., _Marasmius oreades_, Fr., and some others grow in rings. Hence it
will be seen that, within certain limits, there is considerable
variation in the habitats of the _Agaricini_.
_Boleti_ do not differ much from _Agaricini_ in their localization.
They seem to prefer woods or borders of woods to pastures, seldom
being found in the latter. One species, _B. parasiticus_, Bull, grows
on old specimens of _Scleroderma_, otherwise they are for the most
part terrestrial.
_Polypori_ also have no wide range of habitat, except in choice of
trees on which to grow, for the majority of them are corticolous. The
section _Mesopus_, which has a distinct central stem, has some species
which prefer the ground. _Polyporus tuberaster_, P., in Italy springs
from the _Pietra funghaia_,[C] and is cultivated for food as well as
_Polyporus avellanus_, which is reared from charred blocks of cob-nut
trees.
In other genera of the _Polyporei_ similar habitats prevail. _Merulius
lacrymans_, Fr., one form of dry rot, occurs in cellars, and too often
on worked timber; whilst _Merulius himantoides_, Fr., is much more
delicate, sometimes running over plants in conservatories.
HYDNEI.--There is nothing calling for special note on the habitats of
these fungi. The stipitate species of _Hydnum_ are some of them found
in woods, others on heaths, one on fir-cones, while the rest have
similar habitats to the species of _Polyporus_.
AURICULARINI.--The genera _Hymenochoete_, _Stereum_, and _Corticium_,
with some species of _Thelephora_, run over corticated or decorticated
wood; other species of _Thelephora_ grow on the ground. The Pezizoid
forms of _Cyphella_ and _Solenia_, like species of _Peziza_, sometimes
occur on bark, and of the former genus some on grasses and others on
moss.
CLAVARIEI.--The interesting, often brightly-coloured, tufts of
_Clavaria_ are usually found amongst grass, growing directly from the
ground. Only in rare instances do they occur on dead leaves or
herbaceous stems. _Calocera_ probably should be classed with the
_Tremellini_, to which its structure seems more closely allied. The
species are developed on wood. The species of _Typhula_ and
_Pistillaria_ are small, growing chiefly on dead herbaceous plants.
One or two are developed from a kind of _Sclerotium_, which is in fact
a compact perennial mycelium.
TREMELLINI.--These curious gelatinous fungi are, with rare exceptions,
developed on branches or naked wood; _Tremella versicolor_, B. and
Br., one of the exceptions, being parasitic on a species of
_Corticium_, and _Tremella epigæa_, B. and Br., spreading over the
naked soil. This completes our rapid survey of the habitats of the
_Hymenomycetes_. Very few of them are really destructive to
vegetation, for the Agarics and Polypori found on growing trees are
seldom to be seen on vigorous, but rather on dead branches or
partly-decayed trunks.
The GASTEROMYCETES are far less numerous in species, and also in
individuals, but their habitats are probably more variable. The
_Hypogæi_, or subterranean species, are found either near the surface
or buried in the soil, usually in the neighbourhood of trees.
PHALLOIDEI.--In most cases the species prefer woody places. They are
mostly terrestrial, and have the faculty of making their presence
known, even when not seen, by the fetid odour which many of them
exhale. Some of them occur in sandy spots.
PODAXINEI.--These resemble in their localities the _Trichogastres_.
Species of _Podaxon_ affect the nests of Termites in tropical
countries.[D] Others are found growing amongst grass.
TRICHOGASTRES.--These are chiefly terrestrial. The rare but curious
_Batarrea phalloides_, P., has been found on sand-hills, and in
hollow trees. _Tulostoma mammosum_, Fr., occurs on old stone walls,
growing amongst moss. _Geaster striatus_, D. C., was at one time
usually found on the sand of the Denes at Great Yarmouth. Although
_Lycoperdon giganteum_, Batsch, occurs most frequently in pastures, or
on hedge banks in fields, we have known it to occur annually for
some consecutive years in a garden near London. The species of
_Scleroderma_ seem to prefer a sandy soil. _Agloeocystis_ is rather
an anomalous genus, occurring on the fruit heads of _Cyperus_, in
India. _Broomeia_ occurs at the Cape on rotten wood.
MYXOGASTRES.--Rotten wood is one of the most favoured of matrices on
which these fungi develop themselves; some of them, however, are
terrestrial. _Æthalium_ will grow on spent tan and other substances.
Species of _Diderma_ flourish on mosses, jungermanniæ, grass, dead
leaves, ferns, &c. _Angioridium sinuosum_, Grev., will run over
growing plants of different kinds, and _Spumaria_, in like manner,
encrusts living grasses. _Badhamia_ not only flourishes on dead wood,
but one species is found on the fading leaves of coltsfoot which are
still green. _Craterium_ runs over almost any substance which lies in
its way. _Licea perreptans_ was found in a cucumber frame heated with
spent hops. One or two _Myxogastres_ have been found on lead, or even
on iron which had been recently heated. Sowerby found one on cinders,
in one of the galleries of St. Paul's Cathedral.
NIDULARIACEI grow on the ground, or on sticks, twigs, chips, and other
vegetable substances, such as sawdust, dung, and rotten wood.
The CONIOMYCETES consist of two sections, which are based on their
habitats. In one section the species are developed on dead or dying
plants, in the other they are parasitic on living plants. The former
includes the _Sphæronemei_, which are variable in their proclivities,
although mostly preferring dead herbaceous plants and the twigs of
trees. The exceptions are in favour of _Sphæronema_, some of which are
developed upon decaying fungi. In the large genera, _Septoria_,
_Ascochyta_, _Phyllosticta_, _Asteroma_, &c., the favourite habitat is
fading and dying leaves of plants of all kinds. In the majority of
cases these fungi are not autonomous, but are merely the stylosporous
conditions of _Sphæria_. They are mostly minute, and the stylospores
are of the simplest kind. The _Melanconiei_ have a preference for the
twigs of trees, bursting through the bark, and expelling the spores in
a gelatinous mass. A few of them are foliicolous, but the exceptions
are comparatively rare, and are represented chiefly in _Gloeosporium_,
species of which are found also on apples, peaches, nectarines, and
other fruits. The _Torulacei_ are superficial, having much of the
external appearance of the black moulds, and like them are found on
decaying vegetable substances, old stems of herbaceous plants, dead
twigs, wood, stumps of trees, &c. The exceptions are in favour of such
species as _Torula sporendonema_, which is the red mould of cheese,
and also occurs on rats' dung, old glue, &c., and _Sporendonema
Muscæ_, which is only the conidia of a species of _Achlya_. One
species of _Bactridium_ is parasitic on the hymenium of _Peziza_, and
_Echinobotryum atrum_, on the flocci of black moulds.
In the other section of _Coniomycetes_ the species are parasitic upon,
and destructive to, living plants, very seldom being found on
really dead substances, and even in such rare cases undoubtedly
developed during the life of the tissues. Mostly the ultimate stage
of these parasites is exhibited in the ruptured cuticle, and the
dispersion of the dust-like spores; but in _Tilletia caries_,
_Thecaphora hyalina_, and _Puccinia incarcerata_, they remain enclosed
within the fruit of the foster-plant. The different genera exhibit
in some instances a liking for plants of certain orders on which
to develop themselves. _Peridermium_ attacks the _Coniferæ_;
_Gymnosporangium_ and _Podisoma_ the different species of Juniper;
_Melampsora_ chiefly the leaves of deciduous trees; _Roestelia_
attaches itself to pomaceous trees, whilst _Graphiola_ affects the
_Palmaceæ_, and _Endophyllum_ the succulent leaves of houseleek. In
_Æcidium_ a few orders seem to be more liable to attack than
others, as the _Compositæ_, _Ranunculaceæ_, _Leguminosæ_, _Labiatæ_,
&c., whilst others, as the _Graminaceæ_, _Ericaceæ_, _Malvaceæ_,
_Cruciferæ_, are exempt. There are, nevertheless, very few natural
orders of phanerogamous plants in which some one or more species,
belonging to this section of the _Coniomycetes_, may not be found; and
the same foster-plant will occasionally nurture several forms.
Recent investigations tend to confirm the distinct specific
characters of the species found on different plants, and to prove
that the parasite of one host will not vegetate upon another,
however closely allied. This admission must not, however, be
accepted as universally applicable, and therefore it should not be
assumed, because a certain parasite is found developed on a special
host, that it is distinct, unless distinctive characters, apart from
habitat, can be detected. _Æcidium compositarum_ and _Æcidium
ranunculacearum_, for instance, are found on various composite and
ranunculaceous plants, and as yet no sufficient evidence has been
adduced to prove that the different forms are other than varieties
of one of the two species. On the other hand, it is not improbable
that two species of _Æcidium_ are developed on the common berberry,
as De Bary has indicated that two species of mildew, _Puccinia
graminis_, and _Puccinia straminis_, are found on wheat.
HYPHOMYCETES.--The moulds are much more universal in their habitats,
especially the _Mucedines_. The _Isariacei_ have a predilection for
animal substances, though not exclusively. Some species occur on dead
insects, others on decaying fungi, and the rest on sticks, stems, and
rotten wood. The _Stilbacei_ have also similar habitats, except that
the species of _Illosporium_ seem to be confined to parasitism on
lichens. The black moulds, _Dematiei_, are widely diffused, appearing
on herbaceous stems, twigs, bark, and wood in most cases, but also on
old linen, paper, millboard, dung, rotting fruit, &c., whilst forms of
_Cladosporium_ and _Macrosporium_ are met with on almost every kind of
vegetable substance in which the process of decay has commenced.
_Mucedines_, in some instances, have not been known to appear on
more than one kind of matrix, but in the far greater number of cases
they nourish on different substances. _Aspergillus glaucus_ and
_Penicillium crustaceum_ are examples of these universal _Mucedines_.
It would be far more difficult to mention substances on which
these moulds are never developed than to indicate where they have been
found. With the species of _Peronospora_ it is different, for these
are truly parasitic on living plants, and, as far as already known,
the species are confined to certain special plants, and cannot be
made to vegetate on any other. The species which causes the potato
murrain, although liable to attack the tomato, and other species of
_Solanaceæ_, does not extend its ravages beyond that natural order,
whilst _Peronospora parasitica_ confines itself to cruciferous plants.
One species is restricted to the _Umbelliferæ_, another, or perhaps
two, to the _Leguminosæ_, another to _Rubiaceæ_, two or three to
_Ranunculaceæ_, and two or three to _Caryophyllaceæ_. All the
experiments made by De Bary seem to prove that the species of
_Peronospora_ will only flourish on certain favoured plants, to the
exclusion of all others. The non-parasitic moulds are scarcely
exclusive. In _Oidium_ some species are parasitic, but probably all
the parasitic forms are states of _Erysiphe_, the non-parasitic
alone being autonomous; of these one occurs on _Porrigo lupinosa_,
others on putrefying oranges, pears, apples, plums, &c., and one
on honeycomb. _Acrospeira_ grows in the interior of sweet chestnuts,
and we have seen a species growing within the hard testa of the
seeds of _Guilandina Bondue_, from India, to which there was no
external opening visible, and which was broken with considerable
difficulty. Several _Mucedines_ are developed on the dung of
various animals, and seldom on anything else.
The _Physomycetes_ consist of two orders, _Antennariei_ and
_Mucorini_, which differ from each other almost as much in habitat as
in external appearance. The former, if represented by _Antennaria_,
runs over the green and fading leaves of plants, forming a dense black
stratum, like a congested layer of soot; or in _Zasmidium_, the common
cellar fungus, runs over the walls, bottles, corks, and other
substances, like a thick sooty felt. In the _Mucorini_, as in the
_Mucedines_, there is usually less restriction to any special
substance. _Mucor mucedo_ occurs on bread, paste, preserves, and
various substances; other species of _Mucor_ seem to have a preference
for dung, and some for decaying fungi, but rotting fruits are nearly
sure to support one or other of the species. The two known species of
the curious genus _Pilobolus_, as well as _Hydrophora_, are confined
to dung. _Sporodinia_, _Syzygites_, &c., nourish on rotten Agarics,
where they pass through their somewhat complicated existence.
The _Ascomycetes_ contain an immense number of species, and in general
terms we might say that they are found everywhere. The _Tuberacei_ are
subterraneous, with a preference for calcareous districts. The
_Perisporiacei_ are partly parasitical and partly not. The _Erysiphei_
include those of the former which flourish at the expense of the green
parts of roses, hops, maples, poplars, peas, and many other plants,
both in Europe and in North America, whilst in warmer latitudes the
genus _Meliola_ appears to take their place.
The _Elvellacei_ are fleshy fungi, of which the larger forms are
terrestrial; _Morchella_, _Gyromitra_, and _Helvella_ mostly growing
in woods, _Mitrula_, _Spathularia_, and _Leotia_ in swampy places, and
_Geoglossum_ amongst grass. The very large genus _Peziza_ is divided
into groups, of which _Aleuriæ_ are mostly terrestrial. This group
includes nearly all the large-sized species, although a few belong to
the next. _Lachneæ_ are partly terrestrial and partly epiphytal, the
most minute species being found on twigs and leaves of dead plants. In
_Phialea_ the species are nearly entirely epiphytal, as is also the
case in _Helotium_ and allied genera. Some species of _Peziza_ are
developed from the curious masses of compact mycelium called
_Sclerotia_. A few are rather eccentric in their habitats. _P.
viridaria_, _P. domestica_, and _P. hoemastigma_, grow on damp walls;
_P. granulata_ and some others on dung. _Peziza Bullii_ was found
growing on a cistern. _P. theleboloides_ appears in profusion on spent
hops. _P. episphæria_, _P. clavariarum_, _P. vulgaris_, _Helotium
pruinosum_, and others are parasitic on old fungi. One or two species
of _Helotium_ grow on submerged sticks, so as to be almost aquatic, a
circumstance of rare occurrence in fungi. Other _Discomycetes_ are
similar in their habitats to the _Elvellacei_. The group to which the
old genus _Ascobolus_ belongs is in a great measure confined to the
dung of various animals, although there are two or three lignicolous
species; and _Ascophanus saccharinus_ was first found on old leather,
_Ascophanus testaceus_ on old sacking, &c. _Ascomyces_ is, perhaps,
the lowest form which ascomycetous fungi assume, and the species are
parasitic on growing plants, distorting the leaves and fruit,
constituting themselves pests to the cultivators of peach, pear, and
plum trees.
The _Sphæriacei_ include a very large number of species which grow on
rotten wood, bark, sticks, and twigs; another group is developed on
dead herbaceous stems; yet another is confined to dead or dying
leaves. One genus, _Torrubia_, grows chiefly on insects; _Hypomyces_
is parasitic on dead fungi; _Claviceps_ is developed from ergot,
_Poronia_ on dung, _Polystigma_ on living leaves, as well as some
species of _Stigmatea_ and _Dothidea_. Of the genus _Sphæria_, a
considerable number are found on dung, now included by some authors
under _Sordaria_ and _Sporormia_, genera founded, as we think, on
insufficient characters. A limited number of species are parasitic on
lichens, and one species only is known to be aquatic.
[Illustration: FIG. 109.--_Torrubia militaris_ on pupa of a moth.]
We have thus rapidly, briefly, and casually indicated the habitats to
which the majority of the larger groups of fungi are attached,
regarding them from a systematic point of view. There is, however,
another aspect from which we might approach the subject, taking
the host or matrix, or in fact the habitat, as the basis, and
endeavouring to ascertain what species of fungi are to be found in
such positions. This has partly been done by M. Westendorp;[E] but
every year adds considerably to the number of species, and what might
have been moderately accurate twelve years since can scarcely be so
now. To carry this out fully a special work would be necessary, so
that we shall be content to indicate or suggest, by means of a few
illustrations, the forms of fungi, often widely distinct in
structure and character, to be found in the same locality.