Abstract
IT is to be hoped that the interesting discussion on the colours and attractive characters of fungi may induce someone, with the requisite time and patience, to undertake a study in this rich field of investigation, which has scarcely been entered. In a paper published in the Annals of Botany (vol. iii., No. 10, May 1889) it is shown that among the Phalloidei the coloration, odour, and contrivances for the attraction of insects for the dispersion of the spores are as remarkable as those possessed by many Phanerogams for cross-fertilization. Among 1288 species of fungi, other than Phalloids, tabulated from Bulliard's “Champignons de la France,” Tulasne's “Fungi Hypogæi,” and Cooke's “Agarici,” the proportion of those with inconspicuous colours is about 73 per cent., while among the Phalloids the proportion is under 2 per cent.; 90 per cent. of the latter being either red or white. According to Köhler and Schubler, as quoted by Balfour, the proportion of inconspicuously coloured flowers, among 4197 species tabulated, is about 4 per cent., the proportion of red and white being slightly over 50 per cent. Seventy-six per cent. of Phalloids have functionally attractive odour, and only 9˙9 per cent. of flowers; and 18˙6 per cent. of these fungi have rayed or stellate forms, so common among flowers—a shape which I have shown by measurement and experiment to be that which gives the maximum conspicuousness at moderate distances (i.e. within the range of insects' vision) with the minimum expenditure of material. In Coprinus, where the spores become immersed in black and frequently very fœtid fluid, some species appear to resemble certain composite flowers which are visited by large numbers of flies, and Dr. Haas has found glucose in the hymenial fluid. There are reasons to suppose that the fœtor developed by Phallus may be due to the secondary action of putrefactive bacteria.
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FULTON, T. Attractive Characters in Fungi. Nature 43, 269 (1891). https://doi.org/10.1038/043269a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/043269a0
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