-89- 



Such are some of the difficulties to be encountered in any search after the 

 truth, and monographic work of any genus will be found both difficult and puz- 

 zhng. If Hedwig's types at Geneva could be studied by some competent bry- 

 ologist in the way that Monsieur Cardot^ studied the North American types, it 

 would probably result in a few changes in some species and genera, and we hope 

 that this may be done soon without any animosities or sarcastic criticisms of 

 those who are endeavoring to find out the facts. The truth cannot be determined 

 without consulting the older authors and herbaria and endeavoring to understand 

 what their limitations were both as to apparatus and collections. I propose in 

 subsequent articles, by reproducing the original descriptions, illustrations and 

 criticisms to show how much we still need the benevolent services of some Euro- 

 pean bryologist, who will take the time and means to determine what the originals 

 were of some of the older species of Fissidens. 



New York Botanical Garden. 



FUNGUS-SPORES IN A MOSS-CAPSULE 



Elizabeth M. Dunham 



While examining some mosses collected at Miami, Florida, by Mrs. F. E. 

 Lowe of Worcester, Mass., we found one capsule of Funaria hygrometrica var. 

 patula Br. & Sch. containing four-celled ciliated bodies in place of the usual moss- 

 spores. These were identified by Dr. Roland Thaxter of Harvard College as 

 the spores of a species of Pestalozzia, a genus of the 

 imperfect fungi. This group of fungi may represent 

 special stages in the life cycles of other fungi, since 

 little is known of them at present except the spore- 

 stage. Pestalozzia is readily distinguished by the 

 peculiar conidia or spores which are borne on rather 

 short stalks and are spindle-shaped, divided into 

 four parts. The apical and basal cells are hyaline 

 and the central ones dark. The apical cell is provided 

 with one or more filiform appendages. Pestalozzia 

 is one of the leaf-blights and the conidia are produced 

 usually beneath the epidermis. 



Mrs. Elizabeth G. Britton states that fungi 

 often find a moss-capsule a moist, favorable host 

 and fill the spore-sac to the exclusion of the moss- 

 spores, especially in moist warm regions; and that 

 Pestalozzia Spore (Magnified) principal factors in their development seem to 

 be moisture, heat, and the persistency of the capsule. As Funaria hygrometrica 

 is an annual species and the capsule lasts but a short time, the occurrence of 

 fungi on this moss is unusual. Mrs. Britton once examined the very rare capsules 



« Buli. Hb. Boiss. 7 : 300-380. 1899- 



