168 RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



being practically identical, that the basidium-body has succeeded 

 in dispensing with the formation of a septum and thus with a 

 preliminary division of its contents into two equal parts. 



The hila of the spores of the Tremellineae are usually much more 

 strongly developed than those of the spores of the non-tremelloid 

 Hymenomycetes, such as the Agaricineae. Brefeld has shown this in 

 his illustration of the basidia of Tremella, Dacryomyces, etc. ; but 

 he has always represented these hila as parts of the sterigmata 

 pushing up past the ends of the spores. 1 This is incorrect. His 

 supposed sterigmatic tips are really part and parcel of the spores 

 and become detached with the spores when these are shot away 

 from their sterigmata. This is well shown for Calocera cornea in 

 Fig. 2 (p. 7), and for Dacryomyces deliquescens in Fig. 60, B, C. 



The strong development of the hila of the spores of the 

 Tremellineae is associated with a more violent discharge of the 

 spores than occurs in most other Hymenomycetes. In violence of 

 discharge, as measured by horizontal distance of discharge, the 

 Tremellineae (excepting Calocera) are intermediate between the 

 Uredineae and the non-tremelloid Hymenomycetes such as the 

 Agaricineae and the Polyporeae. The following Table gives 

 comparative statistics for spore-discharge. The measurements 

 for the Uredineae were all made by Dietel, 2 except those for 

 Puccinia Malvacearum and Endophyllum Euphorbiae - sylvaticae 

 which were made by myself. 



The methods used by me for determining the horizontal distance 

 of spore-discharge in the Hymenomycetes were two. The first was 

 to place the hymenium in a vertical plane in a closed compressor 

 cell and then to observe with a horizontal microscope the distance 

 from the hymenium at which the spores shot from their sterigmata 

 first appeared when falling. The second was to place the hymenium 



1 O. Brefeld, Untersuchungen, Leipzig, 1888, Heft VII ; vide for Auricularia 

 sambucina, Taf. IV, Fig. 3 ; for Exidia glandulosa and E. repanda, Taf. V, Figs. 3 

 and 7 ; for Tremella frondosa, Taf. VII, Fig. 3 ; for Dacryomyces deliquescens 

 and D. stillatus, Taf. IX, Fig. 2, and Taf. X, Fig. 13. Some of these illustrations 

 are reproduced in F. von Tavel's Vergleichende Morphologic der Pike, Jena, 1892, 

 pp. 134, 141, 143, and 194. 



2 P. Dietel, " t)ber die Abschleuderung der Sporidien bei den Uredineen," 

 Mycologisches Cenlralblatt, Bd. I, 1912, pp. 355-359. 



