104 
Mycologia 
genus and its relation to other genera. In the meantime, mycol- 
ogists will continue to speculate on the probable relationship of 
Sphaerosoma to other genera, as best they can, with the limited 
knowledge based of the scant material which is available. 
The genus Sphaerosoma was founded by Klotzsch on S. fusces- 
cens. As pointed out by Professor Setchell , 3 there have been 
various interpretations as to the exact character of the spores of 
this species, some describing them as echinulate, others as reticu- 
late, and still others as verrucose. Professor Setchell in assum- 
ing that the spores in Sphaerosoma fuscescens were echinulate 
has suggested that this type of plant be regarded as the true 
Sphaerosoma and has followed Hennings 4 in treating the reticu- 
late-spored species in the separate genus Ruhlandiella. In describ- 
ing his Californian species, it was therefore placed in the genus 
Ruhlandiella since the spores were reticulate. 
The writer has recently examined a specimen of Sphaerosoma 
fuscescens collected in Germany by Klotzsch. While this speci- 
men is not actually marked type, we have reason to believe that it 
is a part of the type collection. At least, it is probably as authen- 
tic as any material that can be had. The spores of this plant are 
deeply areolate or reticulate, the ridges of the areolae extending 
two or three microns beyond the periphery of the spore and often 
appearing as short spines. The spore characters of this plant are 
very similar to those of Ruhlandiella hesperia Setchell, a speci- 
men of the type of this latter species having been examined by 
the writer through the kindness of Professor Setchell. From 
the nature of the spores, it is not difficult to account for the de- 
scription of the spores as both reticulate and echinulate. 
It is not even difficult to understand how the spores might have 
been described as verrucose when we recall that most of the re- 
ticulate-spored discomycetes were originally described with ver- 
rucose spores. Peziza Crouani was so described by Phillips and 
Peziza aurantia has been repeatedly described and illustrated with 
verrucose spores, although both species have spores which are 
distinctly reticulate. Even with the microscopes used at the pres- 
ent time, it is often difficult to make out the exact nature of the 
3 Univ. Calif. Pub. 4: 107-118. pi. 15. 1910. 
4 Hedwigia 42 : (22). 1903. 
