ASCODESMIS 79 



7. ASCODESMIS Van Tiegh. Bull. Soc.Bot.Fr. 23:271. 1876. 



Ascolobus § Sphaeridiobolus Boud. Bull. Soc. Myc. Fr. 14: 126. 1898. 

 Sphaeridiobolus Boud. Hist. Class. Discom. Eu. 73. 1907. 



Apothecia minute, less than 1 mm. in diameter, very simple, 

 consisting of a cluster of asci and paraphyses springing from a 

 clump of basal mycelium; excipulum almost entirely undeveloped ; 

 asci comparatively few to each plant, very broad, 8-spored; 

 spores globose or subglobose, hyaline, then pale-brown to blackish^ 

 becoming sculptured at maturity; spore-sculpturing consisting 

 of warts or ridges; paraphyses sparse. 



Type species, Ascodesmis nigricans Van Tiegh. 



Spores globose, reticulated. 1. A. microscopica- 



Spores subglobose, rough but not reticulated. 2. A. porcina. 



1. Ascodesmis microscopica (Crouan) Seaver, Mycologia 8: 3. 

 1916. (Plate 5, fig. 1-5.) 



Ascobolus microscopicus Crouan, Ann. Sci. Nat. IV. 7: 175. 1857. 



?Ascobolus canintis Fuckel, Hedwigia 5: 3. 1866. 



Ascobolus hyperboreus Karst. Not. Fauna Fl. Fenn. 11: 204. 1870. 



Ascodesmis nigricans Van Tiegh. Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. 23: 275. 1876. 



Boudiera microscopica Cooke, Grevillea 6: 76. 1877. 



Ascobolus niveiis Quel. Fr. Assoc. Av. Sci. Comp. Rendu 9: 674. 1880. 



Sphaeridiobolus hyperboreus Heimerl, Niederosterr. Ascoboleen 12. 1889. 



?Boudiera canina Schrot. Krypt.-Fl. Schles. 3^: 55. 1893. 



Boudiera Claussenii P. Henn. Hedwigia 42: (182). 1903. 



? Ascodesmis reticulata Rainier, Bull. Soc. Myc. F~r. 23: 137. 1907. 



Sphaeridiobolus hyperboreus niveus Boud. Hist. Class. Discom. Eu. 73. 1907. 



Apothecia minute, less than 1 mm. in diameter, scattered or 

 thickly gregarious, superficial, consisting of a tuft of asci and 

 very stout paraphyses, at first entirely white, becoming dotted 

 over with black specks, the ends of the asci filled with colored 

 spores, finally becoming entirely black; excipulum almost wanting 

 or consisting of loose mycelium similar to the paraphyses; asci 

 broad-clavate to ovoid, reaching a length of 80 /x and a diameter 

 of 30 IX, 8-spored ; spores 2-seriate or irregularly crowded together, 

 perfectly globose, becoming pale-brown and sculptured, reaching 

 a diameter of 10-12 m; spore-sculpturing consisting of net-like 

 reticulations, the meshes reaching a diameter of 3 ^x, the ridges 

 of the reticulations thin and projecting about the periphery of 

 the spore as minute spines; paraphyses hyaline, stout, scarcely 

 enlarged above, reaching a diameter of 5-6 At. 



On excrement of dogs and tigers, less frequently on that of 

 other animals. 



