198 FUNGI. 



large black soft gelatinous protuberances on the bark, formed 

 by spores escaping and depositing themselves upon and about 

 the apex of the perithecium. This I suspect to be an abnormal 

 state of a well-known Sphosria (>S>. lanciformis^ which grows 

 upon birch, and upon birch only. 



We might multiply, almost indefinitely, instances amongst the 

 Sphceriacei, but have already given sufficient for illustration, and 

 will therefore proceed briefly to notice some instances amongst 

 the Discomycetes, which also bear their complete or perfect fruit 

 in asci. 



The beautiful purple stipitate cups of Bulgaria sarcoides, 

 which may be seen flourishing in the autumn on old rotten 

 wood, are often accompanied by club-shaped bodies of the same 

 colour; or earlier in the season these clavate bodies may be 

 found alone, and at one time bore the name of Tremella 

 sarcoides. The upper part of these clubs disseminate a great 

 abundance of straight and very slender spermatia. Earlier than 

 this they are covered with globose conidia. The fully-matured 

 Bulgaria develops on its hymenium clavate delicate asci, each 

 enclosing eight elongated hyaline sporidia, so that we have three 

 forms of fruit belonging to the same fungus, viz. conidia and 

 spermatia in the Tremella stage, and sporidia contained in asci 

 in the mature condition.* The same phenomena occur with 

 Bulgaria purpurea, a larger species with different fruit, long 

 confounded with Bulgaria sarcoides. 



On the dead stems of nettles it is very common to meet with 

 small orange tubercles, not much larger than a pin's head, 

 which yield at this stage a profusion of slender linear bodies, 

 produced on delicate branched threads, and at one time bore the 

 name of Dacrymyces ITrticce, but which are now acknowledged to 

 be only a condition of a little tremelloid Peziza of the same size 

 and colour, which might be mistaken for it, if not examined 

 with the microscope, but in which there are distinct asci and 

 sporidia. Both forms together are now regarded as the same 

 fungus, under the' name of Peziza fusarioides, B. 



* Tulasne, " On the Reproductive Apparatus of Fungi," in "ComptesRendus" 

 (1852), p. 841 ; and Tulasne, " Selecta Fungorum Carpologia," vol. iii. 



