CEYLON FUNGI. ' 67 



The spores are hyaline, spherical, thick- walled . and measure 

 18-20^ in diameter. They are borne singly on short side 

 hranches of indefinitely long h}'3)h8e which arise from the walls 

 of the cavities. These side branches are up to 15/^ in length 

 and are given off on alternate sides of, and perpendicularly to, 

 the main hyphae. The mass of spores and hyphae completely 

 fills the chamber. When aU the spores have been dispersed 

 the inside of the cup turns brown. 



Berkeley says it is " erumpens ; receptaculo hemisphserico, 

 pallide rufo ; hymenium albido ; sporis glo.bosis. On bark. 

 Looking just Uke an imperfect Crucibulum. Spores globose, 

 •0009 inch in diameter." Tlie " pale red " is probably due to 

 drying, or an alteration in colour by the preservative used : 

 " albido " is correct for the dry disc, but not for the fresh 

 specimens. The measurement of the spores, 22*5 ^ is too 

 large : they barely reach 20 ^ in the type specimens. Saccardo 

 (Sylloge Fungorum) gives 24-28 ju. 



Massee's description of the family Matulece and the genus 

 Matula gives a better idea of the species. " Matulece. Peri- 

 dium primo clausum, dein apertum. Globa multilocularis, 

 dissepimentis crassis, non scissilibus peridioque continuis. 

 Cellulae vel loculi ad parietes hymeniferi, basidiis cylindricis 

 vel subclavatis 1-2 sporis. Matula, Mass. Peridium sessile, 

 jirima aetate globosum, mox cylindricum, regularite apioe 

 dehiscens. Gleba multilocularis, loculis rotundato-irregu- 

 laribus. Sporae globosae." The dissepiments can hardly 

 be styled thick, and they finally dehquesce with the spore- 

 bearing hyphae into a gelatinous mass. I cannot find any 

 trace of specialized basidia : the subclavate structures seen 

 in the section are the first stages of the developing spores. 

 The regular rim of the cup is probably accounted for by the 

 originally gelatinous nature of the tissue which forms it. 



The characters of the genus Michenera {fide Saccardo) are 

 " Placentaeformis, disco ceraceo. Sporae magnae, limoniformes, 

 longe pedicellatae " : and Patouillard's figures bear out the 

 description. But practically none of these characters is to be 

 found in Michenera poroniceformis. Michenera artocreas, the 

 original species, appears to have been collected several times 

 in various parts of America ; if it has been correctly described 



