

(in different species) which character we have used in arranging the species in 

 groups. In one section (of which the common Cyathus stercoreus is a familiar 

 example) the peridiole wall consists of two layers with coarse, deeply colored 

 filaments intervening. If a peridiole is slightty soaked, these filaments seem to 

 be placed between the layers, but after a prolonged soaking in water, four 

 or five days, the outer layer swells, and a section then shows 

 that the filaments are imbedded in the tissue of the outer 

 layer. 3 Our figure 5 (an enlarged section of a peridiole of 

 Cyathus stercoreus) plainly shows this outer layer partially 

 detached. Tulasne applied the term "tunica" to this layer 

 in the species when he noted it, but to us this is a misappli- 

 cation of the term, as the nature is very different from a 

 tunica, and we feel the term should only be applied in the 

 sense we have indicated under the previous heading. Usu- 

 ally these colored filaments are simple, unbranched or 

 slightly branched and form (apparently) a kind of woven 

 tissue. In Nidula emodensis they are peculiar, having 

 many short, sharp-pointed branches, a structure we have 

 noted in no other species. I think the structure of the 

 walls of the peridioles of all species of Nidulariaceae are of the same general 

 nature, but many species do not have these coarse, deeply colored fibrils. They 

 are, on the other hand, much thinner, pale-colored or sub-hyaline, so that the sec- 

 tions appear quite different, and the character can be readily used in classification. 



THE INNER STRUCTURE OF THE PERIDIOLE. A section 

 of the peridiole of any species, shows the interior filled with a white 

 or sub-transparent, hard, horny . substance. ' This is always in two lay- 

 ers, clearly differentiated by a distinct line as 

 shown in figure 6 (a section of the peridiole 

 of Cyathus pallidus, strongly enlarged). The 

 tissue under the microscope is composed of 

 irregular, angular granules, somewhat elon- 

 gated and very irregular in shape. I do not 



p. 6 feel that the word "filament" should be applied 



to this tissue, for it has led to a very erroneous 



statement of facts." The outer layer of tissue is mostly (if not entirely) sterile. 

 The spores are imbedded in the tissue of the inner layer. 



SPORES. The spores of all Nidulariaceae are hyaline. Usually ellipti- 

 cal, they are sometimes subglobose, and vary much in general size in different 

 species. Thus, there are species with large spores (30-50 mic), species with 

 small spores (4-8 mic.) and species with medium spores (12-25 mic). The 

 general size and shape of spores characterize species, but the particular size is of 

 no value whatever, and much latitude must be given to all spore measure- 

 .ments. Spores not only vary in size in the same collection, but in the same 

 peridiole, and I have noted two spores side by side differing more than ten 

 jnic. in length. One finds the spores very abundant in the peridioles of the 

 small-spored species. On the contrary, they are usually scanty (or often 

 wanting) in most of the large-spored species. If. in examining for spores, one 

 has trouble in finding them, it is safe to assume that the plant belongs to a 

 large-spored species. The spores of Nidulariaceae are said to be borne on 



3 Reminding me of the fibres one notes in the pith of the stem of the corn stalk. 



4 When De Toni compiled the Nidulariaceae in the seventh volume of Saccardo he distinguished 

 the genus Cyathus from Crucibulum, the former having " sporae filamentis immixtae," the latter 

 "sporse nullis filamentis immixtae." Miss White has copied apparently the same error in her paper. 

 It originated, I think, in a misreading of what Tulasne states on the subject, for while this inference 

 might be drawn from Tulasne's work, I do not believe he ever intended to convey such an idea. The 

 internal structure of the peridioles of all genera of Nidulariaceae is practically the same, and affords 

 no generic differences and none of them have any threads mixed with the spores. 



