Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 26.djvu/637

. These, as the reader will naturally infer, are for the rapid propagation of the ergot elsewhere. Usually nothing further in spore-formation takes place until the following spring. The hard, purplish ergot-grains contain no spores, being simply indurated masses of threads containing a very large per cent of oil. This is the winter condition of the fungus. With the warmth of spring and the moisture of the soil upon which the grains may be lying, the horny spurs soften and send out stalks from one or more sides, which have club-shaped extremities bearing multitudes of long, slender spores in minute, pear-shaped sacs. Fig. 12 shows a "growing" ergot-grain in the upper left-hand corner; a cross-section of a head below; a more highly magnified view of a

pit on the right, and near the center of the engraving is a single spore-case with the needle-like spores protruding.

The ergot is not alone in assuming a hard condition for the purpose of getting over a severe period of either cold or drought. The term sclerotia, meaning hard, has long been employed as a name for the compact, resting condition common to many fungi. In the early history of this group of plants, Sclerotium was the name of a prominent genus abounding in many so-called species. Now, of course, this