PHRAGMOTRICHACEI. [ 503 ] 



PHYCOMYCES. 



breaking through from beneath the epider- 

 mis, and are chiefly distinguished from 

 PucciNiA by the number of spores, 2 to 12, 

 which are formed on one basidium. P. hul- 

 bosum is common on bramble-leaves (see 

 Uredinei). 



BiBL. Berk. (Aregma), Brit. Flor. ii. pt. 

 2. p. 358 j Grev. Sc. Crypt. Flor. pi. 15; 

 Tulasne, Ann. des Sc. not. 4 ser. ii. p. 180. 

 pi. 9; De Bary, Brandpiize, Berlin, 1853. 

 p. 49. pi. 4 ; Fries, Summa Veg. p. 507. 



PHRAGMOTRICHACEI.— A family of 

 Coniomycetous Fungi, growing on bark of 

 trees, stems, or more or less dry herbaceous 

 stems and leaves. Their conceptacles are of 

 horny texture, and are little globular or 

 cup-shaped bodies, lined with filaments ter- 

 minating in simple or septate spores. [In 

 Excipula they are membranous.] The con- 

 ceptacles burst either by a longitudinal slit, 

 or by several radiating slits, or by a circular 

 slit which detaches a lid. In Excipula the 

 spores are extruded in a gelatinous mass, 

 but not in the other genera. 



Synopsis of British Genera. 



I. Endotrichum. Conceptacle innate 

 or immersed, bursting by a longitudinal sUt ; 

 spores globular, simple. 



IT. ScHizoTHECiUM. Couccptacle su- 

 perficial, bvu-sting laterally by a longitudinal 

 sht ; spores globular, simple. 



III. PiLiDiUM. Conceptacle simple, 

 sessile, rounded, bursting from the centre to 

 the margin in several teeth (by a stellate 

 fission) ; spores spindle-shaped, simple. 



IV. Excipula. Conceptacle cup-shaped, 

 membranous, sessile, naked ; spores spindle- 

 shaped. 



V. DiNEMASPORiUM. Couccptacle cup- 

 shaped, membranous, sessile, closed by villi, 

 and at length open ; sporigenous layer dis- 

 coid, dissolving, covered with cylindrical, 

 elongate, abruptly filiform spores. 



VI. Myxormia. Conceptacle thin, cup- 

 shaped, open, formed of elongated cells. 

 Pedicels of the spores delicate. Spores ob- 

 long, chained together, at length free, in- 

 volved in mucus. 



VII. Cystotricha. Conceptacle burst- 

 ing by a longitudinal slit ; pedicels of the 

 spores branched, articulated, somewhat 

 beaded, forming here and there oblong raul- 

 tiseptate spores. 



VIII. Phragmotrichum. Conceptacle 

 horny-carbonaceous, breaking out, closed at 

 first, subsequently splitting by a longitudinal 



fissure; fertile filaments intermixed with 

 inarticulate paraphyses; spores compound 

 and chained in series. 



PHRAGMOTRICHUM, Kze.— A genus 

 of Phragmotrichacei (Coniomycetous Fun- 

 gi). The plants form little tubercles burst- 

 ing out from beneath the epidermis, and 

 containing filaments arising from a softish 

 fibrous stroma. The filaments (basidia) 

 are interrupted at intervals with cellular 

 spores (fig. 573), which ultimately separate. 



Fig. 571 



Fig. 573. 



Fig. 572. 





Phragmotrichum Chailletii. 



Fig. 571. Scale of a spruce-fir cone, with pustules. 



Half nat. size. 

 Fig. 572. A pustule magnified 10 diameters. 

 Fig. 573. Vertical section across a pustule, showing 

 the chains of spores. Magnified 100 diams. 



P. Chailletii grows upon the scales of the 

 cones of Abies excelsa. Other species grow 

 on the poplar and maple. 



BiEL. Fries, Syst. My cm. p. 492, Summa 

 Veg. p. 474; Kunze, Myc. Heft 2. p. 84. 

 pi. 5. fig. 4. 



PHTHIRIUS,Leach.—Agenus of Insects, 

 of the order Anoplura, and family Pediculidae. 



Char. Legs of two kinds, anterior pair 

 formed for walking, posterior tw^o pairs 

 formed for climbing ; thorax large, not di- 

 stinctly separated from the abdomen. 



One species, P. inguinalis {Pediculus pu- 

 bis). Parasitic upon man. Length 1-10 to 

 1-20". 



The ova are firmly fastened to the hairs 

 by a glutenous secretion; they are um- 

 shaped, and furnished with a lid. 



BiBL. Denny, Anoplur. Monogr. p. 8 ; 

 Leach, Zool. Misc. iii. p. 65. 



PHYCOMYCES, Kze.— A genus of Mu- 

 coriui (Physomycetous Fungi), of which one 

 siiecies, P. nit ens, has been found in Britain 



