MYCOLOGICAL NOTES 15 



the pore becomes a slit. The very oily spores may have many or 

 only one large guttule in each loculus and, when mature, they readily 

 break apart at the septum. The compound form seems to be more 

 nearly allied to the Dothideacei than to the Valsei. 



The Friesian species is described as growing on decorticated 

 branches of Holly, and having the perithecium semi-immersed, with 

 the upper part deciduous so as to leave the " nucleus " only behind, 

 " nestling in the wood like a Stictis," When old and exolete, there 

 remains only a white pit surrounded by a black border. Of course, 

 Fries does not describe (perhaps did not see) the sjDores. 



Oudemans' species seems to have been the same externally, since 

 he does not describe that aspect and refers to Fries without hinting at 

 any doubt, but he adds a description of the asci and spores which 

 shows that they are exactly those of the British specimens. In 1918, 

 Mr. D. A. Boyd discovered the same fungus in Ayrshire, and his 

 specimens were briefly described by Miss A. L. Smith in the Trans- 

 actions of the British Mycological Society (1. c.) as a unique species 

 of a new genus, appropriately named Boydia after the discoverer, 

 although she mistakenly supposes it to be a member of the Spha:rel- 

 lacese. There cannot be the slightest doubt that both these latter are 

 the same, but the Friesian species, which is dimidiate and sunk at the 

 base in the wood might be different. 



It is known, however, that the same fungus may occur, sunk in 

 the wood or immersed only in the soft bark, according to circum- 

 stances ; e.g. this is true of Phomopsis Diospyri Grove and of 

 Phomopsis cinerascens Trav., as well as of other species. Often- 

 times the latter case is found on the younger twigs, and the former 

 on the older and more or less decorticated branches. 



In 1896 Saccardo described a fungus with similar spores, but 

 provided with a valsoid stroma, 2 mm. in diameter, although he also 

 . says that the perithecia are sometimes rather scattered. For this he 

 formed a new genus Vialcea. It is contrary to the principles adopted 

 in Saccardo's Sylloge to place such a species in the same genus 

 as others which have discrete perithecia, but it seems to be now 

 admitted that Such a separation is not always accurate. For example, 

 it is known with certainty that some species of Botryodiplodia 

 (with clustered pycnidia, based upon or immersed in a stroma) are 

 not distinct from certain forms placed in Diplodia (with discrete 

 pycnidia and no stroma). That is to say, the same fungus can 

 develop according to its environment in one or the other form. If 

 so, our fungus might well be placed as a form (f. sparsa) of Saccardo's. 

 Until this is established without a doubt, however, the genus Boydia 

 should be temporarily maintained, but according to the rules the 

 specific name must be insculpta. Thus we should have to write now 

 Vialcea insculpta and Boydia insculpta, although the latter may 

 turn out to be merely V. insculpta f. sparsa. 



Yet this is not quite the whole story. Fuckel, in his Symbolce 

 Mycologicce (p. 265), described what he considered to be a phacidia- 

 ceous fungus, on leaves of Empetrum nigrum, and invented for it a 

 new genus Duplicaria. The strange thing is that the spores of 

 Duplicaria Empetri Fckl., according to the description and drawing 



