74 M. C. COOKE ON NETTLE STEMS AND THEIR MICRO-FUNGI. 



bablj it is rather uncommon. The tufts of spores at the ai:)ex of the 

 simple dark brown threads are sufficient to distinguish it readily 

 when met with. Like its congeners it appears in thin velvety 

 patches on the stems, and is scarcely visible to the naked eye, ex- 

 cept in the darker tint of the patches. 



There is a very pretty and interesting group of fungi which are 

 well represented on old nettle stems, possessing a high organization, 

 and, when fresh, often beautiful. These belong to the genus Peziza. 

 It may be premised that the substance of these fungi is between 

 fleshy and waxy, that they are more or less cup-shaped, either 

 smooth or hairy externally, sometimes sessile and sometimes 

 stalked, and that the sporidia are contained in asci embedded in the 

 substance of the cup. The method employed for their examination 

 and preservation, with some particulars of their structure, will be 

 found in a previous communication on '' Nucleated Sporidia " 

 (vol. ii., p. 251). 



It is one of the " commonest objects " to see old stems of nettle 

 sprinkled from the base upwards with orange points about the size 

 of pin's heads. When the weather is damp these little points are 

 very prominent, swollen, and gelatinous, crushing readily under the 

 finger like jelly, and of a bright orange colour, giving a distinct 

 colour to the stem, so that even at a distance the orange tint may 

 be recognized. This tremelloid orange fungus is the precursor of 

 a species of Peziza of the same colour, consistence, size, and general 

 appearance, of which it isjiow regarded as the conidiiferous condi- 

 tion. If one of the orange pustules, whilst moist and tremelloid, 

 be subjected to examination, it will be found to consist ot delicate 

 branched threads, immersed in the gelatin, and bearing on their 

 tips, at the surface of the masses, a great number of minute colour- 

 less spermatia or conidia. This was formerly named Fusarium 

 tremelloides, and was for a long time included amongst the tremel- 

 loid fungi as a Dacrymyces. In this condition there are no traces of 

 asci. At a later period, and what would at first seem to be the 

 same fungus, so identical in habit, size, and colour, makes it appear- 

 ance. The only distinction between them which even a pocket lens 

 will reveal, is that of a depression in the centre of the pustules, 

 which have now assumed a cup-shape. Crushed in a drop of water 

 under the microscope, the branched threads are no longer to be 

 seen, but instead thereof transparent elongated sacs, or asci, each 

 containing eight small sporidia. This is Peziza fusai ioides. On 



