254 White : The Nidulariaceae of North America 



For a long time the Nidulariaceae seemed to be a bone of con- 

 tention among various botanical writers, in the fact of their appar- 

 ently differing from other fungi in having true and visible seeds.* 

 In 1688 Camerarius published a dissertation " de Fungo calyci- 

 formi seminifero," setting forth his ideas on the subject and claim- 

 ing that these fungi had seeds. Marsigli in 171 3, on the contrary, 

 tried to exclude what he calls "these simple plants" from the 

 fungi, no fungi having true seeds as these plants seemed to* have. 

 In 1714 Tournefort was also inclined to exclude them from the 

 fungi, but Ant. de Jussieu in 1728, denied these propositions, and 

 claimed emphatically that fungi have seeds like true plants. Forty 

 years later fungi were still being classed outside of the vegetable 

 kingdom, particularly so because the sporangioles of CyaiJms were 

 never seen to germinate. Necker in 1783 wanted to make an 

 intermediate kingdom to consist of the fungi, and Pico five years 

 later, said that he had absolutely proved that the nature of these 

 productions was purely animal. In 1791, BuUiard incontestibly 

 proved that all fungi have seed, but he called the sporangioles of 

 Cyatlius seeds, and added "that they seem somewhat out of pro- 

 portion to the size of the fungus." Hoffman says " potius capsa 

 seminalis quam semen ipsum " — " they are less seeds than capsules 

 filled with seeds," while Micheli said that the spores are hard to 

 see with a good magnifying glass. 



These fungi have had several popular names, probably owing 

 to their quaint and attractive appearance. Besides the well-known 

 name of " bird's-nest fungi," as far back as 1724 they have been 

 "called in Worchestershire cornbells, where they grow plenti- 

 fully,"t and in Lincolnshire " we find that a kind of fungus like a 

 cup or old-fashioned purse with small objects inside is called a 

 ' fairy purse ' and we presume that the small objects represent the 

 fairies' cash. "J 



Synopsis of the Genera of tlie Nidulariaceae 



Sporangioles attached to the inner wall of the peridium. 



Peridium composed of three layers ; spores mixed with filaments. I. Cyathia. 



*Most of what follows in this paragraph is translated and adapted from Tulasne's 

 monograph, pages 54-56, as several of the works referred to were unfortunately unob- 

 tainable. 



t Ray, Syn. Ed. 3, 2 : 20. 1724. 



X Friend, Flower Lore, 34. 1889. 



