NOTES ON THK GENUS BALANSIA. 



671 



and axillary buds of the host. These host elements were quite 

 intact and uncrushed, and seemed to line the walls of cavities that 

 occurred in the fungal tissue. 



The whole appearance of these black bodies, together with 

 the discovery that they consisted to a large extent of interwoven 

 hyphas, at once suggested that they were sclerotia. I continued 

 to examine fresh sclerotia till eventually slight ridges began to 



/ \ 



y 



^\ 





Fig. 2. 



be formed, extending from near the tip to about two-thirds of the 

 way down the sclerotium. The usual number of ridges formed 

 on a sclerotium was two, though in some cases several little 

 cushion-shaped protuberances took the place of the ridges. These 

 ridges, like the sclerotia, were black and horny externally, but 

 white and soft internally, and consisted entirely of interwoven 

 hyphse. They measured about i mm. high and i mm. broad. 



Fig. 3. 



After a while indications of the formation of perithecia 

 began to appear in the tissue of the ridges. From this it wat 

 concluded that the ridges were fruiting stromata. 



Gradually the perithecia increased in size and formed definite 

 walls, the walls being of a darker colour than the surrounding 

 hyphae tissue. When mature, the perithecia were flask-shaped, 

 and measured 250-300 X 70-100 fi. Long, thin, cylindrical, 

 hyaline asci were next formed. When mature, they measur'.^d 



