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



tain asci, but innumerable minute bodies of the nature of spermatia, 

 and the perithecia are therefore the spermogones of some Sphceiia, 

 and in some instances of Sphceria svjoerjlua, which is occasionally 

 mixed with, or in close proximity to the spermogones. In this 

 species the perithecia are small and delicate, although twice as large 

 as the spermogonia with which they are as.^ociated, and always 

 covered with the cuticle. The sporidia are oblong and colourless, 

 in two rows, and divided across the centre by a septum into two 

 equal cells. The spermogones seem to be, in part at least, the 

 Phoma nebulosum of authors. 



A group of the old genus Sphceria is characterized by the broad 

 orifice of the perithecium, which is flattened laterally, so as to bear 

 some resemblance to a mouth with two lips. These perithecia are 

 usually imbedded in the matrix, so that the mouth only is exposed. 

 Recently this group.has been regarded as a distinct genus, from the 

 form of the mouth principally, under the name of Lophio stoma, 

 although some authors still hesitate to accept it as a good generic 

 distinction. Two of the members of this group are found on nettle 

 stems ; one having been first detected by Dr. Capron, of Shere, a 

 few years since, and described under the name of Lophiostoma sex- 

 nucleata. It appears to succeed SphcBria acuta, and is often over- 

 looked, from its casual resemblance to the remains of the dispersing 

 perithecia of that species. The old stems on which this species is 

 found are so far advanced in decay that they are usually tender 

 and friable. The sporidia are fusiform, slightlv curved, and 

 five-septate, with a constriction in the centre, each articulation 

 contains a single nucleus, from which the name of the species is 

 derived. 



The other species is Lophiostoma canlium, which is very similar 

 in external appearance, but differing in fruit. The sporidia are also 

 fusiform, and attenuated towards each extremity, often curved, with 

 a greenish tint, and divided transversely by seven septa, exceeding 

 by about one-sixth or one- eighth the length of the sporidia in 

 Lophiostoma sex-nucleata. The same species is also found on the 

 stems of Epilohium hirsutum, and other herbaceous plants. 



There is a very interesting group of Sphc^riacei, in which the 

 perithecia are of a softer and more waxy substance, usually brightly 

 coloured, of which a new species has recently been described by 

 Nylander, under the name of Nectria dacrymycella, which is found 

 in Northern Eaiope on old nettle stems. The perithecia are orange- 



