'1 “Mycelium lacking, or developed in the form of delicate protoplasm-threads,C^or^ THE FLORA OF NEBRASKA. ■To -n i 0 e. Family—OH YT.RIDI ACE AE. * seldom clearly hyphae-like, unicellular. Sporangiophores wanting or but poorly de¬ veloped. Sporangia always forming swarm spores, thin walled and quickly ripening, or thick walled and resting for a period (resting sporangia). Sexual spore formation only developed in a few forms; difference between antherid and oogone scarcely marked.” (Schroeter). This group contains about 35 genera and 160 species of minute, microscopic fungi, which are almost all parasites. They are found parasitic chiefly on algae, but also on flowering plants, fungi, and some lower animals (worms). They seem to be closely allied to the algae of the Protococcoideae, to which the simpler forms have many striking resemblances. g The family is divided into 6 sub-families, of which we have as yet found represen¬ tatives of but 1 in the state. SuB-FAM. —Syncliytrieae. — Swarmsporangia formed by simultaneous division, united into a sorus or arranged in a row. Restingsporangia formed directly from the whole fruiting body, or by division, producing a sorus of restingsporangia. 1. SYXCHYTRIITIfl DeBaky & Woeonin Bericht. d. Naturf. Ges. Friburg. III. (Ex Fischer). 1863. Parasites in the epidermal cells of flowering plants forming galls. Sori of swarmsporangia (summer sori) formed directly from the vegetative body, surrounded by the colorless membrane of the mother-cell, consisting of a number of close laid sporangia which by pressure are polygonal; swarmspores globular, one ciliate; resting spores round or elliptical, with a thick brown exospore. Etymology: Greek aw, together, and pot. {Synchytrinm falg^ens Schroeter. Hedwigia XII., 141. 1873. Spots minute, purple; galls small, orange red; sori bright yellow, spherical or elliptical, produced singly in the epidermal cells which they completely All, 60-100 (I in diam.; resting spores spherical, with a smooth, thick, brown exospore, 66-82 //. On leaves of Oenothera biennis. Not uncommon. Synchytrinm peckii (Thuemen). TJvedo aecidioides Peck. 24th Rep. 88, 1870. Not U. aecidioides DC. FI. Fr. II., 236, {1S15) =Melampsora aecidioides Schroeter. Uredo peckii Thuemen Mycotheca Universalis no. 538. 1876, S. fulgens decipiens Farlow Bull. Buss. Inst. II. 229. 1878. S. decipiens Farlow Bot. Gaz. 1885, p. 240. Spots bright yellow, galls hemispherical, sori spherical, bright yellow, 180- 200^ in diam.; sporangia very numerous, 15in diam.; resting spores un¬ known. » On leaves of Falcata comosa, Lincoln. PI. XV., Fig. 1, a. b. Order 4.—COYJUOATAE.— Unicellular or filamentous, chlorophyll-green or colorless; propagation by cell division; reproduction by the union of sim¬ ilar cells (isogametes). By Roscoe Pound. ^1:8 THE FLORA OF NEBRASKA. . ' ' Family.—MUCORACEAE.* <^Mycelium well developed, thread-like (i. e., with hyphae), branched, up to the time of fructification unicellular (i. e., without septa). Asexual reproduction by internal spore-formation in terminal cells (sporangia) or by reduced sporangia which resemble one-celled conidia or conidia-chains. Sexual spore-formation by zygospores; that is, by the union of two undifferentiated or scarcely differentiated cells to form a zygospore. All spores germinating by a germinating tube; no swarmspore formation.”—(Schroeter). The Mucoraceae are a well marked group containing about 18 genera and 120-125 species, which are saprophytes or parasites on other fungi, chiefly of the same group. The group is now divided into 5 sub-families, of which 2 only are represented in Ne¬ braska. In the formation of zygospores the Mucoraceae agree with the Conjugata£. All of the sub-families except the Cephalideae form the zygospore directly by the union of the contents of the two conjugating cells, as in the Zijgnemeae. In the Cephalideae the zygospore is formed in a new cell cut off by a partition wall from the cell formed by the conjugating cells, as in the Mesocarpeae. But the asexual spore-formation has no proto¬ type in the Covjiigatae. In this respect the Mucoraceae appear to be connected with the Chytridiaceae^ certain forms of which {Zygochytrium) bear a remarkable resemblance to them both in their sexual and asexual reproduction. • SYNOPSIS. Asexual spores formed in sporangia. Sporangia with a columella.Sub-family Mucoreae Mycelium and sporangia of one kind only.Tribe Eumncoreae Sporangiophore simple or branched. Mucor [Aerial mycelium thorny. Spinellus] [Sporangiophore dichotomously branched at apex. Syzygites] • Sporangiophore unbranched, bright metallic in color. Phycornyces Mycelium of two kinds—vegetative and fertile. Sporangia of one kind, Tribe Rhizopeae Membrane of sporangium entirely disappearing, leaving the colu¬ mella, which soon collapses. Ascophora Membrane of sporangium of two parts: above cuticularized and perma¬ nent, below thin and quickly disappearing. Tribe Piloboleae Sporangiophore swollen below the sporangium. Hydrogera [Sporangia without a columella, fertile mycelium distinct from vegetative. Sub-family Mortierelleae] Asexual spores formed as conidia. Conidia single—i. e., not in chains.Sub-family Chaetocladieae Parasitic on other Mucoraceae . Chaetocladium SuB-FAM. — IMncoreae. —Asexual spores 'formed in sporangia; sporangia with a columella (except sporaugiola in forms having them); zygospores naked, ' or surrounded by loose, simple, or slightly branched hyphae. Tribe.—Eumucoreae.— Mycelium of one kind only. This is the typical group from which all the others, unless perhaps the Cepha¬ lideae, appear to be derived. • By Roecoe Pound. THE FLORA OF NEBRASKA. 49 /' 1. MUCOR Linne Spec. PI. II., 1655. 1753. . ' , Saprophytic; mycelium spreading in and upon the substratum; sporapgio- phores springing up here and there on the mycelium, simple or brancke(^, sporangia round, many-spored; zygospores borne on the mycelium iaalted^ the copulating branches (suspensors) without outgrowths. ^ Etymology: Latin mucor, mould. This was the name of one of the eleven genera under which Linne in his Genera Plantarum included all fungi. Jfliicor mnce<1o Linne 1. c. (in part). Sporangiophores erect, rigid, simple, 2-15 cm. high; sporangia large, round, l()0-200 fjL in diam., the membrane quickly disappearing, leaving a small collar-like fragment at the base; columella high-arched, cylindrical or truncate-conical, 70-140x50-80 //; spores rounded, cylindrical, or long ellipsoid, 6-12 x 3-6 // or sometimes larger, colorless or light yellow. In my specimens the spores are regularly 8-10 about half as wide and rather strongly tinged with yellow. On excrement of animals and various decaying substances the world over. Quite common on decaying insects in the water around Lincoln. PI. XIV., Fig. 1, a, b, c. Mncor raccmosn.^ Fresenius Beitraege 12. 1850. Chlamydomucor racemosiis Brefeld Untersuch. 1890. Sporangiophores erect, of various sizes, 5-40 mm. high or small and frail, richly and irregularly branched, each branch terminating in a sporangium; sporangia small, round, of various sizes, depending on the nourishment, 20-70 n in diam., the membrane not dissolving but splitting; columella broad clavate or obovate; spores round or short ellipsoid, smooth, color¬ less singly but in mass yellowish, 6-10x5-8 When grown in a solution it forms septa rapidly and grows by budding. In this condition it forms ellipsoid or rounded-oblong chlamydospores here and there in the hyphae and even in the sporangiophores. In its bud¬ ding state it is a ferment. On decaying organic substances the world over. On paste in the botanical laboratories at the University and very common in solutions, neglected culture-media, etc., in the laboratory. PI. XIV., Fig. 2, a, b, c. 2. PHYCOMYCES KuNZEMycol. Heftell., 113. 1823. Mycelium radiate; sporangiophores simple, arising singly, bronze-green, strongly metallic, terminated by a large sporangium; sporangia round many-spored, the membrane dissolving; columella pear-shaped; conju¬ gating branches tong-shaped, the suspensors producing dichotomously branched, dark brown projections. Etymology: Greek alga, and fungus. Phj xoiityces iiitenf^ (Agardh) Kunze 1. c. Ulva nitens Agardii. 1817. The characters of the genus. Sporangiophores 7-30 cm. long; sporangia very large, about 1 mm.; spores ellipsoid, 16-30x8-15 y. A beautiful species, quickly recognized by its metallic appearance. The sporangiophores have the look of small, flattened wires. On greasy, oily substances. Also found on a squash at Lincoln. PI. XIV. Fig. 3, a, b, c. THE FLORA OF NEBRASKA. f ^ \Spinellusi rlioiiibosporus Ehrb.), S. fiisiger{X‘^.) Van Tiegh., is found on decaying agarics. It may be distinguished by its aerial mycelium which is covered with single or 2-4 verticillate, pointed, thorn-like branchlets. This species is reported for North America, but has not been met with as yet in this state.] [Syzygites aspergillus (Scopoli), Sporodinia asp>ergillus (Scop.) Schroeter, is a parasite or saprophyte on fleshy fungi. The sporangiophores are dicho- tomously branched above, and the zygospores are produced in large num¬ bers on specialized hyphae. It is not yet certainly reported from North America, but is very liable to be found.] Tribe.—Rhizopeae.— Mycelium of two sorts, the vegetative growing on the sub¬ stratum, and the fertile or aerial mycelium which grows by stolons and upon which the sporangiophores are borne. • 3. ASCOPIIORA Tode Fung. Mecklenb. I., 13. 1790. Fertile mycelium at flrst white, then brown or brownish black, growing in all directions by stolons which fasten here and there by rhizoids and at these points produce one or more sporangiophores and other stolons, sporangiophores swelling just below the sporangia; sporangia hemis¬ pherical, the membrane entirely disappearing; columella, hemispherical, forming with the terminal sw’elling of the sporangiophore, a club-shaped head which collapses and has the appearance of an umbrella; zygospores naked. Etymology: Greek aaKog, sac, and to bear. Aseopliora mncedo Tode 1. c. d/zico?’ Ehrb. Sylv. Myc. Berol. 25. 1818. Rhizopus nigricans Ehrb. Nov. Act. Acad. Leopol. X., 1, 193. 1820. Mucor clavatus Ek. Sp. PI. VI., 1, 92. 1824. Stolons creeping here and there over the substratum, quickly covering it, at flrst colorless, then brown; branches 1-3 cm. or longer; rhizoids more or less branched; sporangiophores rarely single, usually in clusters of 3-5 or more on each node, 34 to 4 mm. high; sporangia hemispherical, 1C0-350 y wide; columella broad hemispherical, high-arched, with the swelling of the sporangiophore forming a clavate, cylindrical head reach¬ ing almost to the tip of the sporangium, usually collapsing after the dis¬ solution of the sporangium membrane, and remaining a long time covered with spores; spores of various sizes and shapes, irregularly globose, or oval, with one or tw’o truncated corners, somewhat longer than broad, thick walled, finely striate, averaging 6-17 y. On all kinds of decaying organic matter—one of the commonest of fungi. Quickly recognizable by its mode of growth and the peculiar umbrella¬ like appearance of the collapsed columella. Mucor clavatus Lk., Webber’s Catalogue No. 129, belongs here. The specimen there referred to is principally A. mucedo^ but it seems to have grown over another mould which from the spores is doubtless Mucor mucedo, and the spores of the Ascophora are somewhat larger than usual. PI. XIV., Fig. 4, a, b, c, d. Tribe.—Piloboleae.— Membrane of sporangium of two parts; the upper half cutic- ularized and permanent, the lower thin and quickly dissolving. THE FLORA OF NEBR.4SKA. c . ' 51 / 4. HYDROGrERA WiGGERS FL Holsat. 110. 1780. Sporangiophores simple, arising singly from swellings in the mycelium„coroi"'s less or orange, above expanding into a large ellipsoid swelling; sporangia hemispherical or lens-shaped, many-spored; 'the membrane above black and cuticularized, the lower half quickly disappearing and leaving the upper part resting on the conical columella; both at maturity thrown off by tension of the terminal swelling of the sporangiophore; zygospores, naked, borne on tong-shaped branches. Etymology: Greek v6up^ water, and Latin gero, to carry. Hydroft’era obliqna (Scop.) OK. Rev. Gen. 855. 1891, Mucor obliquus Scopoli Flor. Carniol. II., 494. 1772. Hi/drogera crystallina Wiggers 1, c. Pilobolus crystalUnus Tode Schrift. Naturf. Freund. Berl. V. 46. 1784. (Ex Fischer). Sporangiophores arising singly from a bladder-like swelling of the mycelium, ^ 5-10 mm. long, the terminal swelling ellipsoid or ovoid, .85-l.30x.60-.85 mm.; sporangia plano-convex, resting on the side of the terminal swelling 300-400x100-150 //; columella conical; spores elliptical 5-10x3-6 y, color^ less, but in mass greenish yellow. On dung, on ground in greenhouse, not uncommon. PI. XIV., Fig. 5, a. [3Iortierellci has a distinct fertile mycBlium from which the sporangiophores arise singly or in groups, the bases being enveloped in a mass of short branches. The sporangia are many-spored and have no columella. The zygospores are covered with a dense mass of hyphae, which branch.off from the suspensor-cells and the branches from which the latter arise. 21. poly- cephala Coemans, distinguished among other things by its branched sporangiophores, grows on dung* and on decaying pore fungi. It has been reported from the United States, and should be found here.] SuB-FAM. — Chaetoclaclieae. —Asexual reproduction by conidia which are borne singly (i. e,, not in chains) in groups on the swollen middle portion of branches of the conidiophores, the ends of which are sterile. Through the TliamnidicdB^ one of the tribes of the 2Jucov6ci6, not represented in our flora, this group is connected with the Eumucjoreae. The grada¬ tions shown by other forms and produced by cultivation make it reason¬ ably certain that the conidia are to be regarded as reduced one-celled sporangia. . 5. CHAETOCLADIEM Fresenius Beitraege 97. 1853. Parasitic upon other 2Iucoraceae, mycelium thin, colorless, forming clusters of short, thick haustoria at the point of attachment with the hyphae of the host; sporangiophores creeping, verticillately branched, ending in a long, sterile, pointed tip, the branches short with sterile tips, bearing on the swollen portion large numbers of single conidia. Etymology: Greek hair, and k/xi6iov, branch. Cliaetocladinm brefeldii Van Tiegh. & LeMon. Ann. Sc. Nat. Bot 5 XVII 342. 1873. Characters of the genus; conidia globose or globose-elliptical, smooth, color¬ less, 2-5 fi. • THE FLORA OF NEBRASKA. Parasitic on Mucor mucedo and Ascopliora mucedo. I have found it but once —at Lincoln in 1888 on an onion with Ascopliora mucedo. PI. XIV., Fig. 6, a. [C. Jonesii (Berk, & Br.) Fres., distinguished by its larger conidia with finely echinate exospore, blue in mass, grows on dung with other Slucoraceae. It has been reported from North America, and ought to be found here.] Family.—ENTOMOPHTHORACEAE.* “Mycelium mostly parasitic on living animals (insects), more rarely on plants, or saprophytic, richly branched, often falling apart in bits, at first unicellular. Asexual reprjduc':ion by conidia, which are produced singly on the ends of unbranched threads growing up out of the substratum, and at maturity are absected; without special, stalked conidiophores. Zygospores on the mycelium.”—(A. Fischer, in Rabh. Krypt. Flor.) A small group, chiefly parasitic on insects, containing 5 genera and about 40 species. The resting spores, which are either zygospores or azygospores, as in the Mucoraceae^ point to some relationship with that group. The two groups are for that reason usually placed near together by systematic writers. However, they do not seem to have any im¬ mediate connection. 1. EXT<>:?IOPHTHORA Fresenius Bot. Zeit. XIV., 883. 1856. Empusa Cohn Nov. Act. Acad. Caesar. Leopol. Carol. XXV., I., 317. 1855. (Ex Winter), not Emjmsa Lindley, 1824:=Lijoaris Rich. Parasitic on insects; the characters of the family. Etymology: Greek evrofxog, insect, and 0opT]^ death. Empusa Cohn, the name adopted by Berlese & DeToni in the Sylloge Fungorum and by Thaxter in his Entomoplitlioraceae of the United States, must be rejected on account of the older Emjnisa Lindley, one of the orchids, in accordance with the Rochester Rules. H o The name Entomoplitliora was formerly restricted to the conidial stage of these fungi, the resting spore stage being placed in a genus Tarichium. Entomoplitliora iiinseae (Fries.) Fres. 1. c. (9) Sporodonema muscae Fr. Syst. Mycolog. III., 435. 1829. Empusa muscae Cohn 1. c. Conidia bell-shaped or nearly spherical, with a broad subtruncate base and sharply pointed apex; 18-25x20-30 containing usually a single large oil globule, and surrounded after discharge with a mass of protoplasm. Conidiophores simple, broad and stout, tapering gradually to a narrow base; emerging in white rings between the segments of the host, without coalescing over its body. Secondary conidia like the primary, or more commonly subovoid, small, rounded at the apex and formed by direct budding from the primary form. Resting spores, azygospores, produced laterally or terminally from hyphae within the host; spherical, colorless, 30-50 // in diameter. (Winter.) Host attached to substratum by pro¬ boscis. — (Thaxter.) On house flies . — Musca domestica. Very common in the winter, when the flies affected may be found attached to the walls and ceiling indoors. PI. XV., Fig. 2, a. The resting spores, described by Winter in Rabh. Krypt. Flor. v. Deutschl., etc., have not been observed in this country. 52 ^ *By Roflcoe Pound. THE FLOllA OF NEBRASKA. 53 ,/*r^ » ■' /- ^ -, ■f A.- ■>■ lf->'* .-V ■ ^.^- ■. ■ . j. 4 - '■ ■ ■ ■^rL. •. 1- ^ - ' •’-^~ *'■ ‘ ♦'♦ % 4lk^^ M .- ^:^ ^ il I ■ 1 IHII ■-£ -, ' Sf-' ^ ■ IV • • . V ;4.irw'rV ' ' >) ;l“ . i- ; ; ^ i3!B •' ■ - ' ^ . - ' -. ". ' . . • . ‘•/ ,r> >?s .^-* ^ liMgEg pr-., ■- •^v >•' \ * «> . .Zj^MaSsinL ' ^ ^ j3nS - : . r- * - - i r*; •* c ._. ''< -.. . ,r /. .. . ‘ ' ' > - • •. . *'■ •-.*-: . • . i- 4 . • ' ri- - • . .\ r-^ ■- r ^ - <- *J -;^- > J .«;■ i- sfi- r- tel •V' -w VJ V,1 1 '=> ’.' 'i ^ 4 . _