BASIDIOMYCETES. 489 



spores in a black mass over the flowers of its host, one of the grasses. On 

 account of the large size of the spores, the fungus is very beautiful and the 

 large masses of spores render it a very attractive species. 



Order 17. SPHAEROPSIDALES. 



Among the fungi of this order are the leaf-spots, a number of which 

 have been collected. Some of the species are: Septoria oleandrina Sacc, 

 Phyllosticta Opuntiae Sacc. & Speg., Phoma Musarum Cooke and Pestal- 

 lozzia Guepini Desm. 



In addition to these a number of Hyphomycetes have been collected 

 among which are : Macrosporium Solani Ellis & Martin, Sclerotium Semen 

 Tode and Helicoma larvula Morgan. 



In order to make a careful survey of the fungi of any region, it is 

 necessary to study the region not only through the season but for several 

 seasons, since many of the fungi are not persistent as are the higher plants. 

 Many of them last for only a few days at most, and in some cases may not 

 appear again for years. The best means of securing a complete knowledge 

 of the fungi of Bermuda is for some permanent resident to take up a study 

 of the grc'jp and continue it indefinitely. Such a study would not only 

 furnish interesting occupation, but would extend our local knowledge of 

 the fungi and doubtless result in adding many species to those already 

 known. 



Class 3. ALGAE.* 

 Contributed by Marshall A. Howe. 



The shores of Bermuda and the adjacent sea-bottoms offer wider areas 

 and doubtless more diversified conditions for the growth and development 

 of plants than do the parts of Bermuda that are permanently above the 

 sea. It is probable that thorough investigations will show that, even when 

 the microscopic diatoms, not especially numerous here, are excluded, the 

 number of species of marine plants of Bermuda and vicinity is equal to 

 that of the seed-bearing plants of the dry land. Many of the organisms 

 that first attract the eye in the famous "sea gardens " of Bennuda, such as 

 the corals, the sponges, and their relatives, are members of the animal 

 kingdom, though it is not surprising that the earlier naturalists, observing 

 these organisms to be attached, like the undoubted plants of the land and 

 sea, were inclined to look upon them as plants. And it is not surprising 

 that this idea, as regards some of these organisms, has now and then per- 

 sisted, with those who have never made a special study of such things, even 

 down to the present day. 



Of the marine plants that wash ashore in Bermuda, especially after 

 a severe storm, and that are commonly referred to as " seaweeds," a few 

 are seed plants belonging to such genera as Tlialassia, the Turtle Grass; 

 Zostera, the Eel Grass; and Cijmodocea, the Manatee Grass. However, 

 most of the plants found in the beach drift or seen growing near the line 

 of the low tide or in deeper water, are less highly organized, non-vascular 

 plants, and are representatives of the large and much diversified group 

 known to botanists as the algae. Probably by reason of the more scorch- 



* Chiefly marine, as represented in Bermuda and as here treated. 



