1922] DUFF—GEOGLOSSACEAE 271 
growth, but persists without rupturing, and keeps pace with the 
enlargement of the cap for considerable time. This power of inde- 
pendent growth is undoubtedly responsible for the persistence of 
the veil in this form, and is expressive of the distinct nature of the 
veil as an organ of the ascocarp and of its high degree of organiza- 
tion. Dehiscence finally takes place, by which time many of the 
asci are matured and their spores ready to be discharged. In the 
meantime, with the advent of the paraphyses the trichogynes dis- 
appear. The remaining portions of the procarps are visible for 
some time after, with cells empty or containing only a few strands 
and knots of plasm, evidently in a disorganized condition (figs. 12, 
41). Finally practically all traces of them disappear. 
SPATHULARIA VELUTIPES 
Fig. 14 is a section of the earliest stage of Spathularia velutipes 
that has been studied. It can be seen to have been growing upon 
much rotted deciduous wood, and to have protruded above the 
substratum for somewhat less than 0.5mm. From its size and 
organization it is evident that it represents a corresponding stage 
considerably older than the earliest Cudonia plants here figured. 
The interior of the young fruit body is composed of undifferentiated 
fundamental tissue, which is surrounded by a compact and well 
defined layer, which, as in Cudonia, is the investing membrane or veil. 
By the use of suitable counter stains the veil of Spathularia 
velutipes may be sharply differentiated into two layers, an inner 
and an outer, the former compact and comparatively thin walled, 
and the latter looser and thicker walled. As the ascocarp increases 
in size, the outermost layer is split by tension into small adherent 
cell masses, which to the naked eye give the fruit body a velvety 
appearance. The power of independent growth is just as much a 
characteristic of the very persistent veil of Spathularia velutipes as 
it is of the membrane of Cudonia. In contrast to the condition of 
Cudonia at this stage, however, the interior of the ascocarp is still 
undifferentiated, and no threads corresponding to the generative 
hyphae of that form are yet visible. 
By the time the ascocarp has attained the stage represented in 
fig. 15, conspicuous hyphae have made their appearance, and are 
situated as the generative hyphae come to be in Cudonia, just 
