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252 . CURREY—MYCOLOGICAL NOTES. 
interesting, from its intimate connexion with a species of 
Helminthosporium, which latter, it is probable, may be a 
second form of fruit of the Spheria. In a paper in the fifth 
volume of the fourth series of the ‘Annales des Sciences,’ 
Tulasne states in effect that Helminthosporium is not a 
true genus, but only a state of Spheria, and if this be cor- 
rect, there would, I think, be no doubt of the relationship 
between Spheria ciliaris and the Helminthosporium to be 
presently mentioned: Some botanists, however, are not dis- 
posed to admit so general a view, and are inclined to look 
upon cases like the present as instances of parasitism. The 
question is one not yet ripe for decision, the evidence being 
at present insufficient. very case bearmg upon it, how- 
ever, is worth recording, if only with the view of bringing it 
‘to the notice of other observers. 
The ash-branches above mentioned were covered with 
perithecia, concealed (with the exception of the ostiola) by 
the cuticle, and many parts of them aiso were rough with 
the erect hairs or threads of a species of Helminthosporium. 
By removing the cuticle,with great care, I found that the 
threads of the Helminthosporium proceeded from the apices 
of the perithecia, breaking out through the cuticle in little 
tufts. Under an inch glass the spores of the Helmintho- 
sporium were easily seen attached to the tips and sides of the 
threads. These spores are drawn in fig. 15 5, and are not, 
I think, distinguishable from those of Helminthosporium 
macrocarpum, “rev. The perithecia of the Spheria are 
small and subglobose; and it is a fact worthy of notice that 
the perithecia diminish in size in proportion as the hairs of 
the Helminthosporium are more developed, becoming in 
places almost obsolete. The sporidia are biseriate, colour- 
less, narrow, pointed at the extremities, sometimes almost 
almond-shaped, sometimes strongly constricted in the middle, 
always (or almost always) with four nuclei, varying in size 
from 0:0005 to 0:0009 inch in length. They are drawn in 
the ascus, in fig. 15 a, x 315 diameters. I have called the 
Spheria, Spheria ciliaris, the name applied by Sowerby to 
Greville’s Helminthosporium macrocarpum. If the above 
observations are sufficient, as I thik they are, to show that 
the sporiferous threads and the perithecia are the produce of 
one plant, the Helminthosporium will merge in the Spheria, 
and Sowerby’s name should, I think, be adopted. 
Spheria obtecta, n. sp.—I have in my herbarium a Spheria 
(for which I am indebted to Mr. Broome) which is closely 
associated with a species of Helminthosporium, the spores of 
