1917] FITZPATRICK—RHIZINA UNDULATA 283 



He has found a veil in Spathularia velutipes, Mitrula phalloides, 

 Microglossum viride, and Cudonia lutea. The most conspicuous 

 veil seen is present in Cudonia lutea and Spathularia velutipes. 

 It persists in both species until the plants are one-third or even 

 one-half grown, when it fragments into irregular pieces and falls 

 away. Durand publishes photographs showing very clearly the 

 dehiscing membrane on the hymenium of maturing plants. He 

 examined, however, very young ascomata of Geoglossum glabrum, 

 G. dijforme, and Trichoglossum velutipes without finding any trace 

 of such a membrane. Finally, he expresses the opinion that "when 

 the development of the Discomycetes shall be better understood 

 it will be found that in none of them, not even in the Helvellaceae, 

 is the hymenium exposed from the first." 



More recently McCubbin (25) has studied the development of 

 the fruit body in Helvetia elastica, and states that, in the earliest 

 stages, the young ascocarp is inclosed by an envelope which later 

 dehisces and completely disappears. He presents photomicro- 

 graphs showing in median longitudinal section a single young fruit 

 body bearing at the periphery an adhering bit of tissue, and says 

 that this is a fragment of the transitory veil which earlier enveloped 

 the ascocarp. Although his discussion covers stages earlier than 

 that figured, his photomicrographs are unconvincing. 



Brown (4) has studied the development of Leotia lubrica and 

 L. chlorocephala, but his account contains no information bearing on 

 the question of the presence or absence of a veil in the early stages. 

 Carruthers (7) describes at considerable length the cytology 

 of Helvetia crispa, but does not attempt to study the earliest stages 

 in the development of the fruit body. Massee (24) in his mono- 

 graph of the Geoglossaceae makes no mention of the occurrence of 

 a veil on any of the species in this family. So far as the writer 

 is aware, no other investigation on the development of the fruit 

 body in this order has been undertaken. No representative of the 

 Rhizinaceae has been studied in the young condition. 



Considerable difficulty is experienced in obtaining the youngest 

 stages of the fruit bodies of members of the Helvellales, either by 

 collection or culture, and it is not surprising therefore that stu- 

 dents of the fungi have given little attention to developmental 



