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also Maire (1902), who places the Tulasnellaceæ and Dacryomycetes 

 in the group »Autobasidiomycétes hétérobasidiés«, coordinate with 

 »Autobasidiomycétes homobasidiés«, including Hymenomycetes and 

 Gasteromycetes. 



At least so far as my knowledge of Tulasnella goes, I can not 

 agree with Juel in this interpretation of the events described above. 



Juel bases his interpretation on the following seven points. 

 1) that the early stages of the sterigmata resemble spores and 2) 

 that they, exceptionally, may fall off and germinate. That the 

 upper, thin part of the sterigma 3) varies much in length, 4) can, 

 as an exception, grow out from the basis of the swollen part, and 

 that, sometimes, two branches may arise from the same basal 

 portion; further 5) can also be branched and 6) as an exception, 

 have one or more transverse walls; and 7) that each of the four 

 basidionuclei divides immediately on leaving the basidium; all 

 conditions which, on the whole, do not support the view that the 

 formations in question are sterigmata, but contain nothing remark- 

 able if Juel's interpretation be accepted. 



The events described in points 1 and 3 — 7 are not af such a 

 nature as to be valid proofs that the formations in question are 

 not sterigmata, but spores with promycelia. On the other hand, 

 they may be used to support this view if it can be made probable 

 on the basis of other, more conclusive evidence, — as for instance, 

 if the statement in point 2 is correct, that the stages of the sterigmata, 

 interpreted by Juel as spores, can fall off and then germinate and 

 form a promycelium. Juel's description contains no evidence that 

 the statement in point 2 is correct, and I shall immediately explain 

 why I doubt its correctness. If we examine the text with reference 

 to this point, we find the following statements. »Als der reife Frucht- 

 körper in einem geschlossenen Gefässe in feuchter Atmosphäre 

 über Nacht gelegen hatte, fand ich die Sporen allgemein keimend 

 oder schon ausgekeimt. Sie blieben dabei fast ausnahmslos an 

 den Basidien sitzen, nur selten traf ich auf abgefallene und keimende 

 Sporen« (Juel, 1897: p. 6 Fig. 6). According to that description, 

 there is no guarantee that the sporelike formations have germinated 

 after falling off. The fact probably is, as we shall see, that the 

 sterigmata, which are thick towards the bottom, but with a nar- 

 rower base, are broken off in the condition in wich Juel found 

 them, and which the drawing represents. And here we come to 

 the conclusive point which argues directly in the opposite direction 

 from Juel's interpretation: that the formations called spores are 

 not separated by a wall from the basidium, and therefore, can 



