by a narrow channel (fig. 15). At other times the spores are
divided by both transverse and longitudinal septa producing the
muriform (murali-divided) spore so called from the resemblance
of the individual chambers to the stones in a wall. The very large
single spores of Pertusaria have been shown to contain numerous
nuclei and when they germinate develop a large number of germ
tubes.
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After Darbishire, from Berichte der deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft, by permission of Borntraeger & Co. |
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Fig. 14.—Diagram showing Apothecium in Section and surrounding Portion of Thallus, and special terms used to designate these parts. |
Development of the Ascocarps.—As the remarks on the nature of the spermatia show, the question of the sexuality of the lichens has been hotly disputed in common with that of the rest of the Ascomycetes. As indicated above, the weight of evidence seems to favour what has been put forward in the case of the non-lichen-forming fungi (see Fungi), that in some cases the ascogonia develop as a result of a previous fertilization by spermatia, in other cases the ascogonia develop without such a union, while in still other cases the reduction goes still farther and the ascogenous hyphae instead of developing from the ascogonia are derived directly from the vegetative hyphae.
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After E. Baur, from Strasburger’s Lehrbuch der Botanik, by permission of Gustav Fischer. |
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Fig. 16.—Collema crispum. A, Carpogonium, c, with its trichogyne t. B, Apex of the trichogyne with the spermatium, s, attached. |
The first exact knowledge as to the origin of the ascocarp was the work of Stahl on Collema in 1877. He showed that the archicarp consisted of two parts, a lower coiled portion, the ascogonium, and an upper portion, the trichogyne, which projected from the thallus. Only when a spermatium was found attached to the trichogyne did the further development of the ascogonium take place. From these observations he drew the natural conclusion that the spermatium was a male, sexual cell. This view was hotly contested by many workers and it was sought to explain the trichogyne—without much success—as a respiratory organ, or as a boring organ which made a way for the developing apothecium. It was not till 1898, however, that Stahl’s work received confirmation and addition at the hands of Baur (fig. 16). The latter showed that in Collema crispum there are two kinds of thalli, one with numerous apothecia, the other quite sterile or bearing only a few. The sterile thalli possessed no spermogonia, but were found to show sometimes as many as 1000 archicarps with trichogynes; yet none or very few came to maturity. The fertile thalli were shown to bear either spermogonia or to be in immediate connexion with spermogonia-bearing thalli. Furthermore Baur showed that after the fusion of the spermatium with the trichogyne the transverse walls of that organ became perforated. There was thus very strong circumstantial evidence in favour of fertilization, although the male nucleus was not traced. The further work of Baur, and that of Darbishire, Funfstuck and Lindau, have shown that in a number of other cases trichogynes are present. Thus ascogonia with trichogynes have been observed in Endocarpon, Collema, Pertusaria, Lecanora, Gyrophora, Parmelia, Ramalina, Physcia, Anaptychia and Cladonia. In Nephroma, Peltigera, Peltidea and Solorina a cogonia without trichogynes have been observed. In Collema and a form like Xanthoria parietina it is probable that actual fertilization takes place, and possibly also in some of the other forms. It is probable, however, that in the majority of cases the ascogonia develop without normal fertilization, as is necessarily the case where the ascogonia have no trichogynes or the spermatia are absent. In these cases we should expect to find some reduced process of fertilization similar to that of Humaria granulata among the ordinary Ascomycetes, where in the absence of the antheridia the female nuclei fuse in pairs. In other lichens we should expect to find the ascogenous hyphae arising directly from the vegetative hyphae as in Humaria rutilans among the ordinary fungi, where the process is associated with the fusion of vegetative nuclei. It is possible that Solorina saccata belongs to this class. Cytological details of nuclear behaviour among the lichens are, however, difficult to obtain owing to the slow growth of these forms and the often refractory nature of the material in the matter of preparation for microscopical examination.
Ejection of Spores.—The spores are ejected from the apothecia and perithecia as in the fungi by forcible ejaculation from the asci. In the majority of forms it is clear that the soredia rather than the ascospore must play the more important part in lichen distribution as the development of the ordinary spores is dependent on their finding the proper alga on the substratum on which they happen to fall. In a number of forms (Endocarpon pusillum, Stigmaatonima cataleptum, various species of Staurothele), however, there is a special arrangement by which the spores are, on ejection, associated with gonidia. In these forms gonidia are found in connexion with the young fruit; such algal cells undergo numerous divisions becoming very small in size and penetrating into the hymenium among the asci and paraphyses. When the spores are thrown out some of these hymenial gonidia, as they are called, are carried with them. When the spores germinate the germ-tubes surround the algal cells, which now increase in size and become the normal gonidia of the thallus.
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Fig. 15.—Vertical Section of Apothecium of Xanthoria parietina. a, Paraphyses. b, Asci (thecae) with bilocular spores. c, Hypothecium. |
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From Strasburger’s Lehrbuch der Botanik, by permission of Gustav Fischer. |
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Fig. 17.—Cora pavonia. A, Viewed from above; B, From below; hym, hymenium. (Nat. size.) |
Basidiolichens.
As is clear from the above, nearly all the lichens are produced by the association of an ascomycetous fungus with algae. For some obscure reason the Basidiomycetes do not readily form lichens, so that only a few forms are known in which the fungal element is a member of this family. The two best-known genera are Cora and Dictyonema; Corella, whose hymenium is unknown, is also placed here by Wainio. The so-called Gasterolichens, Trichocoma and Emericella, have been shown to be merely ascomycetous fungi. Clavaria mucida, however, has apparently some claims to be considered as a Basidiolichen, since the base of the fruit body and the thallus from which it arises, according to Coker, always shows a mixture of hyphae and algae.
The best-known species is Cora pavonia, which is found in tropical regions growing on the bare earth and on trees; the gonidia belong to the genus Chroococcus while the fungus belongs, apparently, to the Thelephoreae (see Fungi). This lichen seems unique in the fact that the fungal element is also found growing and fruiting entirely devoid of algae, while in the
