The Forest in Folklore and Mythology Opening Lines: Beautiful 1928 Language

From Chapter I, Forests of Eld:

The earliest vegetation of our globe must have been of the simplest possible type . . . 

If one can imagine the forests of that period, there would probably have been seen enormous toadstools with their domed summits extending over many yards; patches of gigantic mosses pushing up their vast spore urns into the murky sky; or mighty masses of cellular moulds ramifying in every direction and producing thickets of globular spore cases borne on long cellular stalks.

I cannot overlook the beauty of Alexander Porteous’s language, but I also must say: this sounds absolutely terrifying to mycophobes.