360 FUNGI. [Spiloccea. 



On sticks. Appin, Captain Carmichael. Norths. Rev. M. J. 



Berheley Sporidia united four together, into short equal cylindrical 



flocci, which resemble in some states those of Arthrinium. It appears 

 like a thin black wash on the bark of sticks. This species recedes from 

 the usual characters of Torula^ and will hereafter probably constitute a 

 distinct genus. 



149. Spiloc^'a. Ft. Spilocsea. 



Sporidia simple, closely adnata to the matrix and to each 

 other, at first covered by the epidermis — Name, C'Triy.og, a spot, 



1. S. P6mi,Fi'. (Apple Spa ocGna) ; epidermis breaking up 

 into fragments, spots effuse contiguous. Lk. Sp. 2. p. 86. Fr, 

 Sijst, Myc. V. 3. p. 504. 



On applet. Aug. King's Clifte, Norths. Etv. M'. J. Berheley. — 

 Sporidia pyriform, sometimes strongly constricted. I have not seen 

 Fries' specimen in Scler. Stiec, but I have no doubt that my plant is 

 the same with his. 



Tribe 4. Hypodermii. (ucro, beneath^ and Ss^/xa, tlie cuticle^ 

 Sporidia free or sfipitate, springing from beneat'i the cuticle of living 

 plants.^ 



* I cannot adopt'tiie character of Fries, which begins, "no proper vegeta- 

 tion, sporidia arising from an anamorphosis of the cells of living vegetables." 

 If this were really the case, however interesting in a physiological point of 

 view, these productions ought to be excluded entirely from the list of P\ingi, 

 on tl)3 same principle by which the exclusion of Eritieum is justified. Th« 

 evidence, however, to be collected from observations instituted with an express 

 view to the point, appears to me to be in favour of their being considered as 

 true plants. As the matter is of some interest, it may not be out of place to 

 lay some portion of such evidence before our readers. It has already been 

 stated, in the Introduction, that the experiments of Eauer and others, and the 

 practice of steeping seed-corn, tend to show that they are propagated by 

 sporidia, and if so that they are true Fungi. 



Brongniart, some years since, instituted an inquiry into the nature of Uredo 

 i-egetiim, Pers. which is published in Ann. des Sc. Nat. v. 2. p. 171. He found 

 iiie part attacked to be not the seed but the peduncle or axis of the spikelet, 

 the essential parts of the flower being raised up by it, and reduced to a rudi- 

 inental state. The axis is formed of elongated cellular tissue, consisting of 

 juxta-posed cellules without perceptible intercellular spaces and of fibro- vascu- 

 lar bundles, composed of greatly elongated cells of false trachese and tracheee. 



In the fleshy mass occupied by the Uredo, there is nothing analogous, at 

 Mhatever epoch it is observed, but it consists entirely of uniform tissue, pre- 

 senting large almost quadrilateral cavities, separated by walls, composed of one 

 or two layers of very small cells, filled with a compact homogeneous mass of 

 very minute granules, perfectly spherical and equal, slightly adhering to one 

 another, and at first green, afterwards free or simply conglomerate towards 

 the centre of each mass and of a pale rufous hue^ at length the cellular walls 

 disappear, the globules become completely insulated, and the whole mass is 

 changed into a heap of powder, consisting of very regular globules, perfectly 

 alike, black, and just like the reproductive bodies of other fungi. From 

 which he concludes that the production is a real fungus and not a mere modi- 

 lication of the tissue. 



Tills is only an examination of a single species, and perhaps the inference of 

 Brongniart may not be considered by all equally conclusive; for though it is 

 clear that the globules are not modifications of the cells, it is not equally clear 

 that they are not modifications of the granules contained in the cells, the ordi- 

 nary structure of the axis being deranged ; for in U. olivacea, Dec. there 



