264 TEXT-BOOK OF FUNGI 



The fungus was discovered on a fallen trunk in a beech- 

 wood in Germany. 



Such genera as Basidiobolus, Dipodascus, Ascoidea, etc., 

 belong here, and in addition I have included those families 

 in which the perithecium is either rudimentary or absent. 



Brefeld, Unters. MykoL, 9 (1891). 

 Dangeard, Le Botaniste, Dec. 1903, p. 23. 

 Massee and Salmon, Ann. Bot. 15, p. 315 (1901). 



KEY TO THE FAMILIES 



Perithecium rudimentary, consisting of a loose plexus of 

 simple or branched hyphae, sometimes bearing specialised 

 appendages. Gymnoasceae. 



Perithecium entirely absent. Parasitic on the higher 

 plants. Asci forming a continuous stratum on the surface 

 of the infected portion of the host. Exoasceae. 



Perithecium entirely absent. Plant consisting of a single 

 cell. Asexual reproduction by budding. Conjugation of 

 two cells previous to formation of ascospores occurs in some 

 species. Mostly aquatic. Saccharomyceteae. 



Gymnoasceae 



A small group of somewhat primitive forms including 

 about half-a-dozen genera. The species are all very 

 minute, and grow on dung, dead vegetable substances, old 

 bees' nests, and one species is parasitic on dogs' skin. The 

 colour is usually clear and often bright orange, red, or 

 yellow, and under a pocket-lens the plants resemble very 

 minute tufts of down, sometimes furnished with rigid pro- 



