82 The North American Cup-Fungi 



Plants growing on wood. 14. A. xylophilus. 



Plants growing on dead leaves. 15. A. striisporus. 



Plants growing on fungi or slime-moulds. 16. A. epimyces. 



1. Ascobolus stercorarius (Bull.) Schrot. Krypt.-Fl. Schles. 3-: 

 56. 1893. (Plate 45, FIG. 21.) 



Peziza stercoraria Bull. Herb. Fr. pi. 376, f. 1. 1787. 



Ascobolus pezizoides Pers. ; J. F. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1461. 1791. 



Ascobolus furfuraceus Pers. Obs. Myc. 1: 33. 1796. 



Ascobolus stercorarius retisporus Clements, Bot. Surv. Nebr. 5: 9. 1901. 



Apothecia scattered or thickly gregarious, sessile, often par- 

 tially buried in the substratum, later becoming superficial or 

 subsuperficial, at first globose or subglobose and closed, opening 

 by a circular aperture and expanding, finally scutellate to discoid, 

 reaching a diameter of 5 mm., externally pale-yellow or greenish 

 (whitish in dried specimens), furfuraceous; hymenium concave 

 to plane, at first yellowish or greenish, becoming dotted over 

 with the protruding asci which appear black, finally entirely 

 black; asci clavate, gradually tapering below into a stem-like 

 base, reaching a length of 200-250 ^ and a diameter of 30 /x, 

 8-spored; spores partially 2-seriate or irregularly disposed, ellip- 

 soid, thick-walled, at first hyaline and more or less granular 

 within, becoming violet, later brown, smooth, becoming sculp- 

 tured, 11-14 X 20-30 m; spore-sculpturing taking the form of 

 ridges and crevices which have a tendency to be longitudinally 

 disposed, occasionally anastomosing and then giving the spore a 

 reticulate appearance; paraphyses slender, about 2 /x in diameter, 

 scarcely enlarged above, embedded in golden-yellow mucilaginous 

 substance. 



On dung of various kinds. 



Type locality: Europe. 



Distribution: Connecticut to California, Louisiana and 

 Bermuda, probably throughout North America; also in Europe 

 and doubtless widely distributed. 



Illustrations: Pers. Obs. Myc. 1: pi. 4, f. 3-6; Ann. Sci. 

 Nat. V. 10: pi. 6,f.6;Bu\\. Herb. Yr.pl. 376, f. 7; Cooke, Handb. 

 2: 728,/. 338; ]o\xr. Bot. 2 : 150,/. 7,- Trans. Linn. Soc. 24: i?/. 25, 

 /. 9, 10; Gill. Champ. Fr. Discom. pi. 84, f. 2; E. & P. Nat. Pfl. 

 1': 192, /. 154, J-L; Massee, Brit. Fungus-Fl. 4: 162, /. 1-7; 

 Rab. Krypt.-F"!. !•': 1112, /. 1, 2, 3, 6; Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist. 

 State Univ. Iowa 6: pi. 29, f. 2. 



ExsiccATi: Ravenel, Fungi Am. 312, 632. 



Common and widely distributed everywhere. 



