alga and fungus is usually spoken of as symbiosis, or mutually helpful growth, the alga furnishing some things, the fungus others, and both together being able to accomplish work that neither could do independently. By others this union is considered to be a mild form of parasitism, in which the fungus profits at the expense of the alga. As favorable to this view, the facts are cited that each component is able to grow independently, and that under such conditions the algal cells seem to thrive better than when imprisoned by the fungus.
Lichens propagate by means of soredia, which are tiny parts separated from the body of the thallus, and consisting of one or more algal cells overgrown with fungus threads. These are readily observed in many lichens. They also produce spores, usually ascospores, which are always the product of the fungus element, and which reproduce the lichen by germinating in the presence of algal cells, to which the hyphæ immediately cling.
Lichens are found in the most inhospitable places, and, by means of acids which they secrete, they attack and slowly disintegrate even the hardest rocks. By making thin sections of the thallus with a sharp razor and examining under the compound microscope, it is easy to distinguish the two components in many lichens.
Liverworts
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Fig. 288. Fig. 289.
Plants of Marchantia.
The liverworts are peculiar flat green plants usually found
on wet cliffs and in other moist, shady places. They frequently
occur in greenhouses where the soil is kept constantly wet.
One of the commonest liverworts is Marchantia polymorpha,
two plants of which are shown in Figs. 288, 289. The plant
consists of a ribbon-like thallus that creeps along the ground,
becoming repeatedly forked as it grows. The end of each branch
