GASTEROMYCETES 509 



Near the base of the fructification, plates of intermediate tissue remain 

 in contact with the rind and, as in Clathrus, extend from the columella to 

 the surface (in Fig. 330, 2 the rind tissue is removed and the volva gel laid 

 bare) : the volva gel VG, adhering above, splits below into a number of 

 lobes corresponding in number to the receptacle arms. The lobes which 

 separate the Zw. gefl. pi. continue as meridional pads through the interior 

 of the fructification to the top. 



As in the other Clathraceae, tramal plates Tr. proceed from the 

 branches of the columella; they converge more or less toward the recep- 

 tacle arms and intertwine with the pseudoparenchyma. Figure 330, 3 

 gives a cross section through the upper part of a young fructification. 

 Outside is the continuous volva gel layer VG which continues inward to 

 the branches of the columella Z. str. zw. into the columella Zstr. Between 

 the branches of the columella there lie the cavities Gl. Km. into which 

 grow the tramal plates Tr. converging in the direction of the receptacle 

 arms Rp. Figure 330, 4 gives a cross section in the direction of the arrow 

 in Fig. 330, 3. From the inside, the top of the tramal plates Tr push 

 against the receptacle branch Rp and lie next it. As a peculiarity of 

 Aseroe, these tramal plates arise only on the sides of the branches of the 

 columella but not on their lower edge. This lower basal edge spreads 

 horizontally, remains in contact with the receptacle fundament and 

 divides, in the formation of a pseudoparenchyma, the "margin" of the stipe 

 wall. It is characteristic of A. arachnoidea that the receptacle branches 

 elongate considerably and grow from above, bending over into the 

 gelatinous columella Z. str. 



One can best conceive the whole arrangement of a young Aseroe 

 fructification by comparing the volva VG with the pileus of a young 

 Coprinus whose edge reaches the base of the fructification and splits into 

 several lobes. The columella would then correspond to the stipe, and the 

 vertical, plate-like branches would be comparable to the lamellae. A 

 marked difference lies in the new tissues which form the trama, and which 

 grow out from branches of the columella and fill up the spaces between 

 "lamellae." Thus, in a mature fructification, the gleba occurs between the 

 lamellae in the proximal zone, the receptacle branches in the distal. Less 

 marked but distinctive for the appearance of the fructification is the fact 

 that the "pileus" (volva) is ruptured at the top, the "stipe" (columella) 

 and the "lamellae" (columella branches) dissolve, and only the con- 

 siderably enlarged receptacle expands and spreads out the gleba on its 

 arms. 



In Aseroe rubra (E. Fischer, 1893, 1910; Bernard, 1908) still more 

 modifications of the plates of intermediate tissue and of the trama 

 occur. As here also no young stage has been investigated adequately, 

 we must rely on schematic reconstructions (Fig. 330, 6 and 7). In con- 

 trast to A. arachnoidea, the plates of intermediate tissue no longer fuse 



