1278 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



and white. Most of them are red or some shade of red, pink 

 flesh-coloured, orange. 



2. Nidulariaceae.— Nest Fungi, Bird's Nests. (Plate VI, A.) 

 Plants shaped like little cups which open at the top and con- 

 tain a niTmber of small seed-like bodies, " eggs " (sporangia). 



3. Lycoperdaceae.— PufF-Balls. 



The ripe peridium consists of two distinct membranes (exoperi- 

 dium and endoperidium), enclosing a powdery mass (spores). . 

 (a) Geastrce. Star Puff-Bali.— (Fig. 3).— Outer membrane 

 thick, splitting into recurving seg- 

 ments. 



(/>) Bovistae. Tumblers. — Outer 

 membrane thin, not splitting into 

 radiating segments. 



(c) Lycoperdce. True Puff- 

 Balis.— (Plate y, D.)— Peridium 

 flaccid, opening by a definite mouth, 

 Fig. .3.— Geaster saccatus. or rupturing irregularly and falling 



away in pieces. 



III. — Uredinales. 



This order comprises those parasites which are generally known 

 as Rusts, on account of the rusty appearance they give to their 

 host-plants at a certain stage of their development. 



They may be distinguished with the naked eye as minute 

 roundish or oblong brown (yellowish or black) spots (' sori ') on 

 the leaves, or even as compact bullate pustules some mm in dia- 

 meter, scattered or crowded, often hidden by the pubescence of the 

 leaf. The surrounding tissue is often killed by the parasite, 

 assuming the appearance of round reddish-brown or pale spots. 



B. — ASCOMYCETES. 



This class includes a vast number of forms. We shall mention 

 only a few typical representatives of the chief families. Some of 

 • them, the Discomycetes, have the ' asci ' (spore-sacks) disposed on 

 a continuous plain or disc, whilst others, the Pyrenomycetes, have 

 them enclosed in capsules or receptacles, called ' perithecia.' 



