BOTRYTIS

botrytis, a minute fungus which appears as a brownish-grey mould on decaying vegetation or on damaged fruits. under a hand-lens it is seen to consist of tiny, upright, brown stalks which are branched at the tips, each branchlet being crowned with a naked head of pale-coloured spores. it is a very common fungus, growing everywhere in the open or in greenhouses, and can be found at almost any season. it has also a bad record as a plant disease. if it once gains entrance into one of the higher plants, it spreads rapidly, killing the tissues and reducing them to a rotten condition. seedling pines, lilies and many other cultivated plants are subject to attack by _botrytis_, some of the species exist in two other growth-forms, so different in appearance from the _botrytis_ that they have been regarded as distinct plants:--a sclerotium, which is a hard compact mass of fungal filaments, or mycelium, that can retain its vitality for a considerable time in a resting condition; and a stalked _peziza_, or cup-fungus, which grows out of the sclerotium. the latter is the perfect form of fruit. the _botrytis_ mould is known as the conidial form.