322 Rev. M. J. Berkeley and Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi, 



the sporidia are minute and curved, is remarkable for the beauty 

 of its fruit, which resembles in colour and structure that of 

 S. herbarum. 



Plate IX. fig. 8. a. Asci; h. sporidia highly magnified in various 

 stages of development. 



626. S. (Subtectge) Argus, n. s. Tecta; peritheciis magnis 

 depressis coUapsis opacis ; ascis amplis clavatis ; sporidiis octonis 

 biseriatis oblongis curvulis ocellatis serius 5—6 septatis, muco in- 

 volutis. On dry birch twigs, Spye Park, with Hendersonia poly- 

 cystis and Sph. lanciformis. 



Entirely concealed by the cuticle, scattered. Perithecia de- 

 pressed, collapsed, dull, as if very minutely pulverulent ; ostio- 

 lum minute. Asci clavate, large. Sporidia biseriate, oblong, 

 slightly curved when seen laterally, at first consisting of two 

 joints; these soon acquire seven endochromes, of which four 

 belong to the larger division, in which state they resemble Siro- 

 siphon ocellatum ; at a later period they become much darker, and 

 true septa are formed varying in number from five to six. Till 

 they acquire this dark tint, they have a thick pellucid gelatinous 

 coat. 



Few microscopic objects can be more beautiful than the fruit 

 of this and its two associates. In S, lanciformis the endochromes 

 are connected by a little process exactly as in Sirosiphon ; in the 

 present species the resemblance is more superficial, but suffi- 

 ciently strong to suggest the specific name. S. amblyospora is at 

 once distinguished by the pecuhar form of its sporidia. 



Plate IX. fig. 9. a. Perithecium ; h. sporidia more or less magnified. 



627. S. (Obtectse) amblyospora, n. s. Sparsa tecta ; peritheciis 

 depresso-globosis ; ostiolo papillseformi ; ascis amplis ; sporidiis 

 fuscis obovatis 2-3 septatis muco involutis. On dead branches 

 of elm, at Clifton and elsewhere. 



Scattered, scarcely visible externally. Perithecia immersed in 

 the bark, depresso-globose, with a central papillseform ostiolum 

 without any neck. Asci large, clavate, paraphyses flexuousj 

 sporidia large, at first hyaline, consisting of two subconical arti- 

 culations placed base to base ; one of these gradually increases in 

 diameter and becomes very obtuse ; a septum is then formed at 

 the base of the smaller articulation, and sometimes, though 

 rarely, there is a third septum in the other cells. In every stage, 

 except in extreme age when ejected, they have a gelatinous coat. 



This is one of the finest species of the group, and distinguished 

 from S. inquinans by the peculiar form of its sporidia, and more 

 especially in the mode of their formation, for here and there an 

 individual sporidium is observable which is equal at either extre- 



