PIIYCOMYCES. 



[ 595 ] 



niYLLOPirORA. 



p. itHfiilnalh (redicuhis pubis). Parasitic 

 upon mill). Length 1-10 to 1-20". 



The ova are firmly fastened to the haira 

 by ii gliitiiiou.-i pei-ietion ; tliey are urn- 

 shaped, and furnir^lied witli a lid. 



]}iRL. Deuuy, M'>n. Anopl. 8 ; Leach, 

 Zool. Mine. iii. Go ; Mi^gnin, Paras. 7o. 



PHYCOMY'Cf:S, Kze.— A genus of 

 Mucoiini ( Phycomycetous Fungi), of wliifli 

 one species, P. nifens, has beeu found in 

 Britain growing on the walls of oil-cellars 

 and on grease. It is olive-coloured, dis- 

 tinguished iVom Miicor chietly by the absence 

 of a columella, the pyrilbrm peridiole, and 

 oblong spores; but the entire plants are 

 much larger and of more solid texture. 

 The fertile filaments of P. splendcns, the 

 only other known species, are as thick as a 

 horse-hair, and 3 to 4" high. 



It is the finest of all the jNFucorini, and 

 ■was at first confridered an Alga, which it 

 strongly resembles on a superficial exami- 

 nation, when dry, from its green shining 

 threads. 



Van Tieghem attributes to this a fructi- 

 fication like that of Si/ziiyites, with which 

 genus it must idtimately be combined. 



BiHL. Fries, Syst. Myc. iii. 309 ; Sum. 

 Veg. 488 ; Berk. Ann. N. H. vi. 433 ; Van 

 Tieghem, ^?!«. Sc. Nat 1873, xvii. 202. 



PIIYCOMYOETES.— An order ofFungi 

 composed of microscopic plants of very 

 simple organization, the mycelium being a 

 byssoid or flocculent mass, bearing simple 

 vesicular sporanges (peridiola), filled with 

 minute spores. The liature of the mem- 

 branous wall of the peridioles is not yet well 

 ascertained in all the genera, some authors 

 describing it as merely a veil, others as a 

 perfect sac formed b}' the expansion of the 

 terminal cell of the filament, which is cer- 

 tair.ly true in 3I?icor. According to our 

 own observations, the spores aie formed by 

 free-cell formation in the peridiole, which 

 ultimately bursts to discharge the spores. 



But the division Antennariei cannot stand ; 



AT>Tr:xxAr!iA seems to be merely a form of 



CAPXODirM ; and Piso:myxa and Pleveo- 



PYXis are obscure objects of which little is 



known. 



In the Antennariei the peridioles are ses- 

 sile on radiating flocci, which sometimes 

 send processes which gi-ow up and surround 

 them, or they are attached to the sides of 

 eiect filaments; these filaments form whitish 

 or gieyish patches, on the leaves of trees 

 and herbs, bearing a close external resem- 

 blance to Enjsiphe. 



The Miicorini are moulds growing on 

 decaying organic matter, the mycelium 

 constituting flocks floating in liquids or 

 overgr(.wing damp substances, while the 

 delicate spore-sacs or peridioles are borne 

 at the apices of erect stalk-like and often 

 extremely branched filaments. The genus 

 Syzi/f/ites exhibits a remarkable peculiarity. 

 Each spm'e-sac is formed by means of the 

 conjugation of two bianches of the ramified 

 fructification (see Syzygites). 



The later researches on the plants of this 

 group seem to indicate that, as in most of 

 the Fungal Orders, much remains to be 

 cleared up concerning the relations of the 

 forms. See on this subject the article Eu- 

 EOTiFM, which genus, according to De 

 Bary's researches, is associated as merely a 

 second form of fructification, with Asper- 

 Gn>LUS, upon the same mvcelium. 



PH YL ACTEL 'LA, llincks, = Lepralia 

 pt. (Tlinck-s, Poli/z. 356.) 



PIIYLLOBET.— A series of Lichena- 

 ceous Lichens. 



Char. Thallusfoliaceous, depressed, lobed. 



BiBL. Leighton, Brit. Lich. Flora, p. 2. 



PIIYLLOGONIA'CE^.— A family of 

 Pleurocarpous Mosses, distinguished bv the 

 peculiar character of the leaves and their 

 arrangement. The leaves are either in- 

 serted horizontally or imbricated vertically, 

 clasping, and are composed of very narrow 

 linear parenchymatous cells, appearing 

 almost confluent into a homogeneous mem- 

 brane, auricled at the base, with luinute, 

 parenchymatous, thickened alar cells ar- 

 ranged orbicularly at the auricles, very 

 smootb ; tbe leaves stand in two opposite 

 rows. 



This family contains only tbe single small 

 exotic genus Pltyllfxpiniinn. 



PHYLLOM'iTUS, Stein.— A genus of 

 Flagellate Infusoria. Free, ovate ; flngella 

 two, unequal, united at the basal portion ; 

 no mouth. P. undulans, freshwater. (Kent, 

 Inf. 299.) 



■PHYLLOPII'ORA, Grev.— A genus of 

 Crypt onemiacefe (Florideous Algag), con- 

 sisting of several species, with a red, rigidly 

 membranous, stalked, leaf-like, often dicho- 

 tomous thallus, the lobes of which are often 

 proliferous ; from a few inches to a foot long, 

 gi'owing near low-water mark, or in the sea. 

 (P. rvhens, PI. 4. fig. 4.) 



The fructificatiou consists of:- — I. favelli- 

 dia, scattered over the thallus, containing 

 minute spores ; 2. antlieridia, wart-like 

 bodies compcsed of radiating moniliform 



2q. 2 



