294 THE BASIDIOMYCETES 



The genera Eocronartium and lola are parasites of mosses. 

 Eocronartiinnmuscicola [Fitzpatrick (1918, 1918a)] is obligately 

 parasitic upon the moss gametophyte and sometimes inhibits the 

 production of sporophytes. The perennial mycehum within the 

 leafy shoot is composed of binucleate cells and is intracellular. 

 Haustoria and clamp connections are absent. From the upper 

 portion of the moss gametophore, hyphae emerge to form a 

 clavate gelatinous fruiting body. The recent work of Stanley 

 (1940) has shown that a definite hypobasidium is present, al- 

 though this structure was not reported by Fitzpatrick (1918a). 

 The hypobasidium gives rise to a transversely septate epibasidium 

 bearing 4 spores that are capable of germinating by repetition. 



The gelatinous fruiting bodies of lola are parasitic upon the 

 sporophytes of various mosses. There are 2 species: /. hook- 

 eriannn, described from Brazil by Moller (1895), and 7. javeiisis, 

 known from Java by the work of Gaumann (1922). In /. javemis 

 the binucleate mycelium grows through the moss capsule and 

 forms a pulvinate mass upon its top. The swollen hypobasidia 

 are borne in clusters, each hypobasidium except the first being 

 derived by proliferation of the subterminal cell of the hypha. 

 Four-celled epibasidia project above the gel layer and bear ba- 

 sidiospores that germinate by formation of secondary spores. 



Herpobasidiiim filicimmi, parasitic on ferns in Sweden and Can- 

 ada, has definite haustoria which penetrate the host cells. A 

 hypobasidium is not present, and the basidia are peculiar in being 

 only two-celled. According to the cytological study of Jack- 

 son (1935), each cell of the basidium is binucleate, and both 

 nuclei become incorporated into the basidiospores. 



The culmination of the Family Auriculariaceae, in so far as 

 the complexity of the fruiting body is concerned, is reached in 

 some species of the Genus Auricularia (Hirneola). The various 

 species are all saprophytes, growing on wood. The common 

 form, A. auriciila-jiidae, has gelatinous, ear-shaped fruiting bod- 

 ies as large as 4 in. in diameter. Clamp connections are present, 

 and the hyphae composing the fruiting body are binucleate. The 

 basidia are grouped to form a hymenial layer on the ventral sur- 

 face of the fruiting body. There is no differentiation of basidia 

 into hypobasidial and epibasidial portions. The basidium is 4- 

 celled, is transversely septate, and bears 4 spores on long sterig- 

 mata which project to the surface of the gel layer. Duller (1922) 



