Rev. M. J. Berkeley on British Fungi, 261 



26. On decaying walnuts, Milton, Norths. My specimens, 

 though tolerably abundant, were rather past maturity, but 

 they agree with Corda's figure. His specimens were found at 

 the bottom of an oil cask sprinkled with broken blister flies. 



The discovery of this plant is interesting as confirming 

 the general correctness of M. Corda in one of the most extra- 

 ordinary of the new objects represented in his continuation of 

 Ditmar's admirable work on German Fungi. I have lately 

 met with another of these curious productions, Hemicyphe stil- 

 boidea, which is however clearly a species of Mucor, very 

 nearly allied to Mucor clavatus. It is much to be regretted 

 that he has made so many new genera on utterly insufficient 

 grounds, and indeed that he has represented as autonomous 

 species many mere Mycelia, or what is worse, decayed Fungi, 

 or bad specimens of common species overrun with minute 

 gelatinous Algae. To the greater part of the sixteen produc- 

 tions represented in the last number, all referred to new ge- 

 nera, these remarks are strictly applicable. M. Corda's work 

 is valuable as a register of various interesting forms of Fungi, 

 but it is of little use where a correct delineation is requisite of 

 parts differing but slightly from each other, on which the dis- 

 crimination of nearly allied species depends. 



125. Macrosporium sarcinula, n. s. On decaying orange 

 gourds, King's Cliffe. Its first appearance is that of orbicular 

 white downy patches consisting of suberect slightly branched 

 threads. These soon vanish, leaving a dark olive green stra- 

 tum, consisting at first of short clavate filaments with one or 

 two septa. Their apices gradually become much incrassated, 

 and the number of articulations increases. The septa are 

 mostly horizontal with a few vertical ones ; a few occasionally 

 are inclined. In this state the colour is yellowish when viewed 

 by transmitted light. The sporidia gradually assume a browner 

 tint, become more and more distinct from the peduncle, and 

 at length fall off, acquiring a rectangular outline, and resem- 

 bling very much little corded bales, from which circumstance 

 the name is taken. They vary greatly in size and in the num- 

 ber of cells. A few of the peduncles are seen amongst the 

 sporidia, their articulations being frequently swollen above. 



