1889.] BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 215 



this is the rule, it is not unusual to find the promycelia pro- 

 duced at the apex of the spore. Furthermore, the statement 

 that the obtuse spores are teleutospores is not invalidated by 

 the fact that under certain conditions the germinal tubes do 

 not form the ordinary promycelia with sporidia, but break up 

 into separate cells or even drop away from the spore in the 

 shape of bud-like cells before they have developed into a fila- 

 ment of any kind. With regard to the fusiform spores 

 Kienitz GerlofTs statement is that they bear germinal tubes, 

 which, in growing out into filaments, do not form proper 

 promycelia with sporidia. But my observations, although 

 they agree with those of Kienitz-Gerloff in showing that term- 

 inal germinations are occasionally to be found in the fusiform 

 spores, yet, in the majority of cases, they germinate like the 

 obtuse spores and bear normal promycelia and sporidia at 

 the septum. 



Sin.e then it is the fact, as shown by these notes and the 

 accompanying figures, that, in their mode of germination, 

 both the obtuse and fusiform spores bear the promycelia 

 characteristic of teleutospores, we must conclude that, if the 

 obtuse spores are teleutospores, the fusiform spores are also 

 teleutospores. The only ground for supposing that the latter 

 are uredespores is the statement of Kienitz-Gerloff that they 

 do not produce promycelia but rather the tubes found in ure- 

 dosporic germination, and I have shown that this statement 

 is erroneous, and that what he considers to be the constant 

 form of germination in the case of the fusiform spores is 

 really only an exceptional form of germination, which is also 

 to be seen at times in the obtuse spores with regard to whose 

 teleutosporic nature all writers agree. We must conclude 

 that both the obtuse and fusiform spores are teleutospores in 

 spite of their differences in size and shape. As already re- 

 marked G. clavarireforme is not the only species in which 

 two forms of teleutospores are known, and for further infor- 

 mation on this point one should consult the paper by Dietel 

 in Hedwigia, 1889, p. 99. The mode of germination of tel- 

 eutospores of Gvmnosporangia is subject to a good many 

 modifications, depending, in part at least, on the variations 

 in the amount of mcisture to which they are subjected. The 

 modifications mentioned above, as I am informed by Prof. 

 Farlow, at whose suggestion I undertook the examination of 

 the subject, have been frequently seen by those who have 

 studied this genus, although but' little has been said about 

 them in print. 



