84 BOTANICAL GAZETTE | AUGUST 
nuclei fuse in typical resting condition, and the chromosomes 
are then absolutely indistinguishable. Many other discrepancies 
might be enumerated. 
Such marked divergences, aside from the fact that Berlese 
has described a uninucleate oosphere and antheridial tube, 
while I find them both clearly multinucleate, are sufficient to 
warrant the suspicion that we are working with quite different 
species. Still, only one species is as yet described on Portulaca 
oleracea, and the configuration of the spore wall represented and 
described by Berlese agrees fully with that of the form dis- 
cussed in this paper. 
I have taken particular care to convince myself of the iden- 
tity of the species used, and have the assurance of Professor 
Magnus that my species is truly A/bugo Portulacae. Furthermore, 
I have been able to compare this material with authentic Euro- 
pean herbarium specimens, and they agree precisely. Not only 
do my preparations agree with European material in gross char- 
acters, but the cytoplasmic structures agree with those carefully 
figured by Istvanffi (1895, p/. 36, figs. 24, 25). This agreement 
emphasizes the identity of the American with the European spe- 
cies, and further shows that the species from widely separated 
regions? do not vary appreciably even in the cytoplasmic phe- 
nomena regarding which Berlese and I report such diametrically 
opposed observations. 
It is difficult to explain these numerous and serious discrep- 
ancies. Great variation in cytological detail is to be expected 
in this genus, and possibly the Italian form differs from the 
American as well as from that which Istvanffi studied. This is 
improbable, however, in view of the close agreement between 
these two latter forms. The problem can hardly find definite 
solution until the Italian form has been studied more closely. 
A mere difference in the number of functional nuclei, even a 
difference so great as that between the multinucleate and uninu- 
cleate oosphere, is readily conceivable in the same species when 
? I have been unable to learn where Istvanffi collected his material, but assume 
that it is of European origin. 
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