256 



Mycologia 



cent, of the asci are 3-spored and the majority of the remainder 

 are 2-spored. In relatively rare cases i-spored, 4-spored, or 8- 

 spored asci have been found, but when more than three spores 

 occur in an ascus some of the spores are often imperfectly 

 formed. One ascus with a single large normal spore and seven 

 minute probably non-functional spores have been seen in C. 

 portoricensis (Figure 42), but an ascus with eight perfectly 

 formed, normal spores has not been observed in either of the 

 two species. 



The perithecium of C. oreophila is typically trilobed at the 

 apex, bilobed and quadrilobed individuals occurring on the stroma 

 among the typical individuals only in rare cases. In C. portori- 

 censis the perithecium is typically bilobed but the occurrence of 

 trilobed individuals is not uncommon, comprising approximately 

 11 per cent, of the cases. A quadrilobed individual has not been 

 seen in this species. In C. jamaicensis the perithecium is 

 typically trilobed and occasionally quadrilobed. Moreover a 

 pentilobed apex has been noted on a single individual, but a peri- 

 thecium with a bilobed apex has not been observed. 



The perithecia are approximately the same size in the four 

 species though there is some variation. The spores in C. oreo- 

 phila and C. brasiliensis are somewhat smaller than those of C. 

 portoricensis and C. jamaicensis. This fact is probably corre- 

 lated with the number of spores in the ascus in the various cases. 

 It has been observed that in C. portoricensis and C. jamaicensis 

 the spore in a i-spored ascus is relatively very large, the spores 

 in a 2-spored ascus smaller, and those in a 3-spored ascus even 

 smaller. This condition is probably merely a result of differ- 

 ence in nutrition. 



The species C. brasiliensis, C. jamaicensis, and C. portoricensis 

 have been founded on relatively few collections of material. 

 Corynelia oreophila has, however, been studied from five widely 

 separated localities in South and Central America. These five, 

 collections are identical as regards ascus and perithetical char- 

 acters and show no more tendency in one case than in another 

 toward the development of few-spored asci like those of C. 

 portoricensis and C. jamaicensis. There is no reason, there- 



