149 
(5-10 4) in diameter; these are not strongly coherent as in a 
typical Phoma pycnidium, but form a thickish irregular crumbly 
stratum, surrounding the spore-cavity on all sides, but thicker 
above and below than round the margin. They break apart 
easily on pressure, and behave much like the pycnidium of a 
homopsis, which latter, indeed, except for the fact that it 
arises beneath the epidermis, is more closely allied to the Lepto- 
stromaceae than to the Sphaeropsidaceae, though not exactly of 
either type. 
Whether it is right to place the present species in Lepto- 
thyrium or in one of its allies cannot be decided until someone 
revises the Lepiostromaceae according to modern notions, but it 
certainly falls within Saccardo’s definition of the former and 
belongs to Diedicke’s §D. 
An imperfect state of the same fungus, labelled in Cooke’s 
Herbarium ‘““Phoma phormicola, Cooke,’’ on dead ormium 
(Kirk, no. 134!), from Stewart Island, New Zealand, is in the 
same cover: but another small specimen (Kirk, no. 77!) from 
New Zealand, also on dead Phormium, has a true pycnidium and 
Cytospora-like spores about 5 x 1 u—this is labelled in Cooke’s 
handwriting “ Phoma Phormii, Cooke,” and as it has no stroma, 
it may belong to that genus, but it is not = Phoma Phormii, Sacc. 
Fig. 7.—Leptothyrium Phormii, vertical section through a pycnidium, 
in situ, x 210; the cells marked 2 are the stone-cells of the mesophyll ; 
below are shown five spores, X 
Strangely enough, I have lately received from Mr. D. A. 
Boyd some excellent specimens of this Leptothyriwm, on decaying 
leaves of Phormium tenax, from Hunterston, Ayrshire, and 
Stranraer, Wigtonshire. Possibly the fungus accompanies the 
host wherever it is cultivated, just as Coniothyrium concentricum 
accompanies the species of Yucca ; if so, it will be found in the 
plantations of Phormiwm which are beginning to be made in 
Treland, but as it is only a saprophyte it may be of no economic 
importance. 
The Scotch specimens agree perfectly as regards the pycnidia 
and spores with those from Brussels, but a curious feature seen 
in them is that some parts of the cuticle are broadly dyed of 
a pinkish-red colour. On searching for the cause of this, it was 
found that accompanying the Leptothyrium was a Leptosphaeria, 
the perithecia of which are larger and thicker than the pycnidia 
of the Leptothyrium, and are surrounded about the base by 
numerous creeping hyphal threads of a deep purplish red. 
