66 FETCH : REVISIONS OF 



cup appears to rise obliquely. Apparently the walls separating 

 the upper chambers are gelatinized, the outer wall is per- 

 forated at the top, and the fructification expands into a cup- 

 shaped structure. There^ is no formation of new chambers 

 after the dehiscence, and no abscission of a distinct cap. The 

 exterior of the mature fructification is identical with that of 

 the immature sphere. The cup is 3-6 mm. in diameter, and 

 about 3 mm. high : it is filled with tissue internally and has 

 the appearance of a Peziza with a depressed disc. The outer 

 wall extends vertically above the disc, sometimes for a dis- 

 tance of a millimetre, and forms an erect rim. The disc is 

 gelatinous and brownish when moist, but white and areolated 

 with slightly raised swellings when dry : these surface swellings 

 correspond to the remainmg chambers of the original 

 sphere. 



When dry the fructification is quite hard. A longitudinal 

 section shows a thick outer wall which forms the cup, and, 

 ■^thin the semicircle formed by this, a mass of loose spores. 

 Generally an unopened spore chamber can be found towards 

 the base, and if the specimen is not too old the vertical walls 

 of the opened chambers can be traced. 



But that the wall of the cup should be thick is quite contrary 

 to the evidence obtained from the unopened sphere. If the 

 section is soaked in water, however, the explanation is clear : 

 the waU of the cup then swells out, and shows that it consists 

 of the outer layer of chambers which have contracted into 

 a dense pseudoparenchymatous layer on drying. It is this 

 which causes the dried specimen to be harder than would be 

 expected. If a longitudinal section is allowed to dry on the 

 slide, the cup straightens out until the outer wall is almost a 

 straight line. 



The fate of the original chambers of the sphere may 

 be briefly summarized. The uppermost chambers of the 

 translucent outer layer disappear : the remaining cham- 

 bers of this layer contract in drying and form the hard 

 outer wall of the cup ; the uppermost of the spore-bearing 

 chambers open at the top (? their walls are gelatinized) and 

 set free the spores, while those below remain closed for a 

 longer time. 



