528 



porthe sulphurea, Fckl., which differs onlj' in its somewhat larger 

 sporidia" As regai-ds the color of the sporidia of M. chrysostroma, 

 Tulasne calls them yellow or yellowish-green (" flavis aut luteo-viren- 

 tibus"). 



M. apocrypta, Ell. Am. Nat. Feb., 1883, p. 194. (Plate 35) 



Perithecia subcircinate, \ mm. diam., membranaceous, 8-12 buried 

 in the inner bark, without any distinct stroma, entirely concealed by 

 the epidermis, which, without being ruptured, is raised into slight, 

 whitish pustules by the pressure of the short, fasciculate ostiola. Spo- 

 ridia elliptical, 25-30 x 11-13 //, at first surrounded with a hyaline, 

 gelatinous envelope, and more or less perfectly biseriate in asci 114 x 

 22 fi, but at length becoming brown, uniseptate and uniseriate, in elon- 

 gated as-ci 120-150x12 fi. 



On dead poplar branches, Decorah, Iowa (Holway). 



The conidial stage is probably Melanconium poj)ulinum, Pk. 

 This is closely allied to 3L occulta, (Fckl.), but differs in its smaller, 

 brown sporidia. 



M. Decora^nsis, Ell. in Am. Nat. Feb. 1883, p. 195. 



Melanconiella Decoraensis, Sacc. Syll. 6123.. 

 Bxsicc. EU. & Evrht. N. A. F. 2d Ser. 1562. 



Perithecia 8-20 in a stroma, angular' from pressure, coi'iaceous, 

 black, circinate, \ mm. diam., subdecumbent, with stout, convei'ging 

 necks, and small, black, obtuse ostiola erum])ent in a light-colored, 

 elliptical disk bursting through transverse cracks in the epideimis but 

 scarcely rising above it. Asci cylindrical, briefly stipitate, obscurely 

 paraphysate, p. sp. 95-115 x 10-12 ji. Sporidia uniseriate, elliptical, 

 obtuse, uniseptate and constricted, becoming brown, 12-20 (mostly 

 14^16) X 8-10 IX. The accompanying Melanconiuw. has spores (conidia) 

 rather shorter and broader than the sporidia. 



On dead limbs of birch, Decorah, Iowa (Holway). 



Var. major, E. & B. Journ. Mycol. Ill, p. 42, on dead bii-ch 

 limbs, Plainfield, N. J. (Meschutt), has the sporidia larger (18-26 

 .\ 8-9 p), but does not differ otherwise from the original specimens 

 from Iowa. When well matured, the ostiola in both are distinctly 

 quadrisulcate. Var. suhviridis, Pk. 40th Rep. p. 70, on dead bai'k of 

 Betula popvUfolia, Ganesvoort, N. Y., has both the disk and the 

 stroma yellowish-green and pulverulent. 



We have not been able to. detect any appendages on the sporidia 

 at any stage of growth. Otherwise this could hardly be separated from 

 M. spodicea, Tul. The perithecia are so slightly sunk in the unal- 

 tered substance of the inner bark as to be partially visilile through the 

 thin layer that covers them. 



