PODOSPITAERA 37 



length, apex 3—5 (rarely 6) times dicliotoinously branclied, primary 

 branches (and rarely the secondary) usually more or less elongated, 

 and sometimes slightly recurved, ultimate branches rounded, 

 swollen and more or less knob-shaped ; ascus globose or sub- 

 globose, 60-78 X 60-70 ; spores 8, 20-30 x 13-15 /A sometimes 

 slightly curved. 



Hosts. — Pmnus Anncniaca^ P. conimunis^ P, douicstica^ P. 



ft 



insititia, P, Padiis^ P. spinosa, Spiraea Douglasii \Pynis Auca- 



paria (319)]- 



Distribution, — Europe : Britain, France, Belgium (46, 209). 

 Netherlands (263), Germany, Switzerland (176), Italy, Austria- 

 Hungary, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Asia : Japan. 

 North America: United States, Washington. 



The apical insertion of the more or less erect, often fasciculate 

 appendages, together with a marked tendency for the apex of the 

 appendages to become more elaborately divided are the character- 

 istic features of the present plant. The apex of the appendages, 

 besides being more branched than in the type, frequently develops 

 long primary branches ; this latter character is not, however, abso- 

 lutely confined to the present variety, as it occurs rarely in examples 

 of P. oxyacanthae. Considering European specimens alone, it might 

 be contended that these characters are constant and important 

 enough to give a specific rank. Occasionally, however, amongst 

 these, examples occur in which a slight spreading tendency is 

 shown in the appendages. This tendency is more marked in the 

 American example, which consequently forms a link with P, 



oxyacantliac. \ 



Without exception all the American plants labelled " P. Kun- 

 zci" (the name under which Leveille united "P. iridactj/a" 

 and "P. myrtiliina") that I have seen, belong to P. oxyacanthae, 

 and the only specimen which belongs to the present variet>' is one 

 sent to me from the herbarium of the U. S. Dept. of Agric. 

 named " Sphaerothcca JmmitU (DC.) Burr, on Spiraea Douglasii, 

 Seattle, Washington, Oct., 1891 (A. M. Parker)." In this specimen 

 (now in the Kew Herbarium) the long, more or less erect append- 

 ages springing from near the apex of the perithecium refer the 

 plant to the var. tridactyla, and are quite different to the append- 

 ages of the form of P. oxyacanthae which occurs commonly on 

 American species of Spiraea.- Nevertheless, in some perithecia 



