50 OUTLINES OF BRITISH FUNGOLOGY. 



tlie sporidia themselves are divitledj though the tirst septum 

 is gcuerally found in the centre, and tlie two halves are often 

 divided in like manner. Multitudes of exceptions however 

 occur, though the normal plan is probably symmetrical. 



Sometimes both forms of fructification take place or co- 

 exist in the same plant, and then the free cells are called 

 conidia or stylospores : conidia when the threads which bear 

 them are exposed ; stylospores when they are produced within 

 the same or distinct perithecia {pycnidia) , or when they ac- 

 company the asci, being closely packed with them in the hy- 

 menium. Sometimes conidia, stylospores, and sporidia may 

 be produced in the same plant, and even where the normal 

 fruit consists of spores without sporidia, there may occasion- 

 ally be conidia. 



Spores, though apparently globose or ellipsoid under the 

 microscope, are often very thin and hollowed out on one side 

 like the seeds of a Veronica, and amongst the Sphceriacei 

 there are sporidia which have the same peculiarity. 



Sporidia are in general more complicated than spores, but 

 whether the cell is simple or variously divided horizontally 

 and vertically by partitions or septa, the structure is still the 

 same. They consist of two or more membranes containing a 

 granular mass, in the midst of Avhicli there are frequently one 

 or more oil-globules or distinct cytoblasts. Germination 

 takes place either by the protrusion of a part of the two walls 

 together, or by that of the inner Avall, which perforates or 

 ruptures the outer, if a pore be not previously in existence. 

 Where the spores or sporidia are compound, each joint will 

 sometimes germinate at the same time, but occasionally they 

 break up into separate parts, and in these cases it is some- 

 times convenient to consider each part as a distinct reproduc- 

 tive ore:au. 



