148 The North American Cup-Fungi 



broad-clavate, usually truncate at the apex, many-spored ; spores 

 ellipsoid or subellipsoid, smooth, each usually surrounded by a 

 mucilaginous envelope; paraphyses present, slender. 

 Type species, Ascoholus Pelletieri Crouan. 



1. Thecotheus Pelletieri (Crouan) Boud. Ann. Sci. Nat. V. 10: 

 236. 1869. (Plate 12, fig. 7.) 



Ascoholus Pelletieri Crouan, Ann. Sci. Nat. IV. 7: 173. 1857. 

 Ryparobius Pelletieri Sacc. Syll. Fung. 8: 542. 1889. 



Apothecia gregarious or scattered, sessile, at first subconical, 

 the top gradually expanding, finally short-cylindric or rarely 

 approaching discoid, reaching a diameter of 1-2 mm. and of 

 about the same height, white or whitish, externally more or 

 less pruinose; hymenium plane or slightly convex, similar in 

 color to the outside of the apothecium, roughened by the pro- 

 truding asci; the excipular cells roundish, loosely united, reaching 

 a diameter of 20m. the cell walls hyaline; asci comparatively 

 few to each apothecium, very large, strongly exserted and easily 

 visible with the hand lens, broad-cylindric to clavate, tapering 

 below into a stem-like base, reaching a length of 300-350 ix and 

 a diameter of 50-60 m, 32-spored; spores 3-4-seriate or irregularly 

 disposed, ellipsoid, the ends strongly narrowed, containing one 

 central nucleus-like body or a number of small oil-drops, 23-24 

 X 35-38 jji, each surrounded by a mucilaginous envelope which is 

 rather thick and of irregular outline; paraphyses very slender. 



On dung of various kinds. 



Type locality: France. 



Distribution: Massachusetts to North Dakota and Ber- 

 muda; also in Europe. 



Illustrations: Ann. Sci. Nat. IV. 7: pi. 4, f. A; Ann. Sci. 

 Nat. V. 10: pi. 9, f. 22; E. & P. Nat. Pfi. 1^: 189, /. 152, G~J; 

 Massee, Brit. Fungus-Fl. 4: 156,/. 38; Rab. Krypt.-Fl. 1-^: 1082, 

 /. 1-4; Phill. Brit. Discom. pi. 9, f. 56; Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist. 

 State Univ. Iowa 6: pi. 33, f. 1; Pat. Tab. Fung./. 172. 



22. SEPULTARIA Massee, Brit. Fungus-Fl. 4: 389. 1895. 



Peziza § Sepultaria Cooke, Mycographia 259. 1879. 



Apothecia medium-sized, reaching a diameter of 2-3 cm., 

 cup-shaped or rarely subscutellate with age, clothed with flexuous 

 or bristly hairs, partially to entirely buried in the ground, often 

 becoming subsuperficial with age, entire or splitting Geaster- 



