Does branching have any adaptive value at all? I believe it does. Within groups 1-3 there is a trend towards taller fruiting bodies in the more-derived species. Being carried in the air on tall stalks may not only aid spore dispersal but also contribute to spore preservation, away from the decomposing agents in wet humus. However, the construction of a robust stalk comes at a cost of reducing the spore-to-stalk ratio. Group 4 species resolve this problem by additional cell-type specialization to form support structures. For the basal groups, branching and particularly whorl formation may provide a solution for the problem of building tall well-balanced fruiting bodies without sacrificing too many spores.