VARIATIONS IN PLEURAGE CURVICOLLA (WINT.) KUNTZE 409 
the perithecia has been found. Perithecia containing mature asci, namely, 
asci containing dark-colored spores, and growing on different media, were 
measured. These measurements are given in table 2. 
The measurements given for P. curvicolla by Griffiths are 350-450 x 
550-600 Ai, and by Winter, 697 ijl high. The measurements tabulated above 
simply show how great a variation may occur in the size of perithecia. The 
greatest variation occurred on corn meal on which perithecia as small as 
200 fjL in diameter were found and some as high as iioi /x. This is prob- 
ably due to the quantity of the medium rather than to its quality, since 
whenever a thick layer of substratum is provided many of the perithecia 
are submerged and send up long beaks to, or toward, the surface, while 
when growing on a thinner layer, as in a petri dish, they are usually super- 
ficial. Cultures growing in test tubes on Irish potato agar about 3 cm. 
deep formed perithecia as far as 5 mm. beneath the surface of the medium 
whose beaks were entirely absent or were short and never reached the 
surface. 
Less attention has been given to the study of the asci, since these en- 
large so rapidly when placed in water that the measurements are less re- 
liable. However, measurements of asci taken from a 30-day-old culture 
on an Irish potato agar plate gave the limits 83-91 x 210-252 jjl, as com- 
pared with 70-120x225-280/^ as given by Griffiths, and 113 m broad by 
257 /JL long as given by Winter. 
Summary 
1. Observations made on a strain of Pleurage curvicolla together with 
records found in literature seem to indicate that this species may have 128, 
256, or 512 spores in the ascus, and hence it is assumed that 7, 8, or 9 
mitotic divisions probably occur within the ascus. 
2. The spores of this strain compare closely with those given for other 
strains of this species, but there is a somewhat greater variation in the size 
of the perithecia. 
3. Careful study of spores of all ages, both within and outside the 
ascus, have failed to demonstrate definitely the presence of the secondary 
appendages which are supposed to be a constant taxonomic character in 
this species. 
