191^] Setchell: The Scinaia Assemblage 99 



possession is concerned. That will be referred to later under 

 Gloiophloea. 



Scinaia japonica is a dark opaque red, fairly robust plant, seem- 

 ingly thick and cartilaginous, nearest in appearance and structure to 

 Scinaia Johnstoniae and 8c. articulata, but is longer, more branched, 

 with distinctly palisade epidermal layer and a greater number of 

 layers in the hypodermis. It approaches Scinaia articulata in struc- 

 ture but Scinaia articulata has less elongated colored cells in the 

 epidermis, fewer layers in the hypodermis, and smaller cystocarps 

 than Scinaia japonica. Both, however, show the delicate and regular 

 tangential crinklings of the radial walls of the colorless cells of the 

 epidermis in sections of dried specimens however much swollen by 

 reagents (KOH) ; these may be artefacts but show regularly and con- 

 stantly in each form (cf. pi. 11, fig. 17). 



As to the extent of the distribution of Scinaia japonica along the 

 coast of Japan, it will be necessary to have more data. According to 

 Okamura (1907, p. 11) Scinaia furcellata extends along the Pacific 

 coast of Japan from Nagasaki to Province Hitachi and on the west 

 coast in Province Idzumo, but, as already stated above, there has been 

 confusion with a species of Gloiophloea. Probably Scinaia japonica 

 has an equally wide distribution, but more specimens must be examined 

 before the matter can be considered as definitely settled. 



II. Flattened or Complanate Unconstricted Species 



To this section of the genus three species are to be referred, viz., 

 Scinaia complanata Cotton (Scinaia furcellata var. complanata F. S. 

 Collins, 1901, No. 836 and 1906, p. 110). Scinaia Cottonii sp. nov., and 

 Scinaia latifrons M. A. Howe (1911, p. 500). One of these has been 

 observed to be flattened even in the living condition (cf. Collins, loc. 

 cit.) and the other two have structural peculiarities definitely indicat- 

 ing flattened structure (cf. Howe, loc. cit. and Cotton, 1907, p. 260). 

 "While it is very difficult to be certain whether any of the forms are 

 cylindrical or slightly flattened because of the failure of specimens 

 dried under pressure to fully recover their shape, there is sufficient 

 evidence, it seems to the writer, to be certain that these three forms 

 are at least complanate and that the rest of the species of Scinaia, as 

 here limited, are very nearly if not quite cylindrical. A character of 

 importance here is the axis, which is not visible in dried specimens 

 and when investigated microscopically is found to be distinct only just 



