OF CERTAIN TERMITE NESTS. 249 



after tour days and a number of small yellow discomycetes 

 on the sixth day. The mycelium of these could not be traced 

 to the comb and they were regarded as intruders. 



In four other instances this discomycete appeared on combs 

 under bell jars. On the fourth or fifth day a tuft of yellow 

 hyphae arose and spread in a tassel over the surface of the 

 comb, passing thence to the glass and finally climbing for 

 several centimetres up the side of the bell jar. Some of the 

 hyph'Te united into thicker strands, and the network of thick 

 radiating threads with thinner cross-connections resembled 

 at first sight the wandering plasmodium of a myxomycete. 

 At the extreme edge of the network small yellow spheres 

 developed, and on the tenth day the upper halves of these 

 split away in the form of a hemispherical cap, leaving a 

 small peziza in some cases with the shrivelled remains of the 

 cap attached to the margin on one side. In one instance 

 the tassel of hyphae hung loosely down at the side of the comb 

 without reaching the glass, and the discomycete was thus 

 pendent at the tip. 



In another instance the discomycete developed in clusters 

 on combs left on the verandah and merely covered with a box . 

 In all cases the combs were semi-deserted, i.e. . they did not con- 

 tain larvae when removed from the nest. 



The ascophore of this species is pale yellow or bright orange 

 yellow on the disc when fresh, and orange red when dry : ex- 

 ternally it is paler and somewhat scurfy, being covered with a 

 loose network of hyphae which fix it below to the comb or bell 

 jar. It often grows in clusters of about six. The diameter 

 may reach 1 centimetre : the larger specimens are almost 

 plane and have an undulating disc. The asci are narrow cy- 

 lindric, 100-120 x 6-7 /*. with a slightly curved pedicel, and the 

 spores, obliquely uniseriate, usually only occupy about 

 one-third of the ascus : they are oval , continuous, 6x4/*. The 

 paraphyses are as long as the asci, slightly swollen upwards, 

 septate, and in some cases branched. This agrees with the 

 Herbarium specimens and Massee's re-description of Peziza 



