412 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [DECEMBER 
short oblong, or suboval. The shape of the segments is exactly the 
same in the Ithaca specimens of H ypocrea alutacea as can be seen in 
plate XV, fig. 6, a photomicrograph. The spores measure from 
4.5-5-5 # long X 2.5-3@ wide. The upper segment is 2.5-3 » in 
diameter, and the lower one is 2.5-3.5 « long X 2-2.5 mu in diameter. 
After fixing and imbedding in balsam the measurements are some- 
what smaller than here given. 
The spores lie very close together, end to end in the ascus, so 
that the sixteen segments often appear connected into a necklace- 
like string. They appear sometimes to adhere to some extent even 
after escaping from the ascus, but the individual spores can be deter- 
mined usually by the difference in shape of the two segments. 
There is one other question in connection with this plant which 
it is now necessary to consider. In what genus shall the species be 
placed? Typical species of Hypocrea have a crustaceous, or cushion- 
shaped or hemispherical stroma, while the stroma of Hypocrea 
alutacea is vertical and elongated. Such a marked difference in the 
form of the plant is usually regarded as representing a different 
generic type, just as the erect stromata of the species of Xylaria 
represent a different generic type from the crustaceous, cushion-like 
or hemispherical stromata of Hypoxylon. Saccarpo* used the name 
Podocrea as a subgenus for the species of Hypocrea with a vertical 
stroma, and included three species: Cordyceps larvata Mont.,3# 
C. brevipes Mont.,35 and Hypocrea Petersii B. & C.3° Hypocred 
alutacea he did not place in this section, since he followed the TOLASHES 
in believing it parasitic on Clavaria ligula, Lxxpav37 in 1897 1alse 
Podocrea to generic rank, and places Hypocrea alutacea as the first 
species, although Karsren3* had founded the genus Podostroma 
five years earlier, for a species which he found on a larva of a decay- 
ing insect among mosses in Finland. Podostroma Karsten, therefore, 
should have precedence over Podocrea (Sacc.) Lindau, and It Is 
unfortunate that Linpav did not use the name Podostroma alulaces- 
Karsten (I. c.) described one species, P. leucopus. The om. 
33 Syll. Fung. 2:530. 1883. 35 Idem 676, p. 201- 1856. 
34 Syll. Crypt. no. 674, p. 200. 1856. 36 Grev. 4:13- 1875: 
37 Engler und Prantl Pflanzenf. 11:364. 1897. 38 Hedwigia 31+294- _ 
