82 ERYTHEA. 



The genus Sterrocolax with its single species was described and 

 figured by Schmitz, in Flora, 1893, pp. 393-397, Tafel vii., fig. 

 11 and 12. BufFham (Jour. Quek. Mic. Club, ser. ii, vol v, no. 

 33, Oct., 1893, pp. 291-305) observed the ellipsoidal spores escaping, 

 and states that he found tubes through which they passed, thus 

 leading him to the view that the spores were formed in succession. 

 He considered the bodies to be the asexual organs of fructification 

 of the Ahufeldtia itself. M. Maurice Gomont in the Journal de 

 Botanique, April, 1894, confirms the statement of Schmitz in regard 

 to the structure of the parasite, and states that the manner of attach- 

 ment is similar to that of the parasitic genus Actinococcus. Schmitz 

 and Hauptfleisch in their arrangement of the Floridese in the 

 Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, p. 366, regard the systematic position 

 of the genus Sterrocoliix as uncertain, owing to the fact that anthe- 

 ridia, procarps, and cystocarps are as yet unknown. 



Gonimophyllam Buffhaml Batters, occurred very frequently at 

 Pacific Grove and Carmel Bay, California, in December, 1896, 

 upon Nitophyllum Ruprechtianum J. Ag. The plants were a 

 pale pink color, contrasting strongly with the deep lake-red of the 

 host-plant. The parasite seemed to prefer the lower portions of the 

 frond as its habitat, occurring on the Nitophyllum near its base 

 much more frequently than elsewhere. It grew in patches extending 

 in some cases an inch in breadth, while the individual fronds reached 

 a height often millimeters. Antheridial, cystocarpic, and tetrasporic 

 plants were collected, and compared with the description and figures 

 given by Batters (Journal of Botany, March, 1892), who founded 

 the genus. This writer states that the parasite was never found 

 upon the cystocarpic plant of Nitophyllum laceratum, its host in his 

 case, but always upon the barren, antheridial, or tetrasporic plants. 

 So far, the writer has found Gonimophyllum only upon the tetra- 

 sporic N. Ruprechtianum, as the cystocarpic plant occurs but seldom, 

 and the antheridial plant has not, so far as is known, been observed 

 on the Califoruiau coast. 



In structure the parasite shows a well-marked differentiation into 

 vegetative and repi'oductive portions. The lower vegetative part 

 consists of creeping, rhizoidal filaments, which ramify among the 

 tissues of the Nitophyllum, causing local irritation and swelling of 



