544 
ME. E. CUEEET ON THE FErCTIEICATION 
1. Sphceria verrucceformis, Ehe. — The hi-st plant which I have to mention is Spjlu^ria 
mrrucceformis, one of the most common of the genus, at least in this countiy. It occm-s 
at all seasons of the year, principally on fallen branches of Oak, hut also on Spanish 
Chestnut, Beech, Alder, and other trees, in the form of prominent black warts protruding 
through, and surrounded by the lacinise of, the ruptured epidermis. The ordinaiw fruit of 
this Spheeria consists of minute curved sporidia of a yellowish tinge. In most Sphaeiiae 
the number of sporidia in each ascus is limited to eight, but Sphcena verrucceforniis is 
one of the comparatively few species in which the number is quite unlimited ; the sporidia 
indeed are so densely crowded that it is difficult to arrive at even an approximate 
calculation of the number contained in any one ascus. Plate XXIV. fig. I represents 
an ascus of the ordinary form filled with sporidia, and fig. 2 a few of the latter detached 
from the ascus, all magnified 315 diameters. The colom’ of the sporidia, when in a mass, 
is a dull yellow, but they are almost colomiess when viewed singly. Their mean size 
is -2 of inch, and there is usually a globular nucleus at each end. I am not aware 
that any second form of fruit has hitherto been observed in this Fungus, but in the 
course of last autumn (1856) 1 found some very yomig specimens of the Sphaeria gi-owing 
in close proximity to a species of Cytispora^ and subsequent investigation cominced me 
that the latter was merely a cytisporous condition of the former. The appearance of 
the perithecia of the young Sphaeriae was different from that of theii’ matiu-e conchtion : 
they were of a light ochrey-yellow colour, instead of being black, or nearly so. The' 
perithecia of the Cytispora were so exactly like those of the Sphaeria, that without a 
microscopical examination of the contents, it was not possible to distinguish the one 
from the other. The association in growth, the exact similarity of the perithecia. and 
the fact, now well established, that other species of Sphaeriae possess a cytisporous as well 
as an ascigerous fructification, would seem almost sufficient grounds for assummw the 
identity of these two plants, but a further argument in favour of such identity was afforded 
by the occurrence of the perithecia of the Cytispora and of the Sphaeria within the same 
circumscribing line. Sphceria rerriicoeforinis belongs, as is well known, to the division 
Lignosae, one of the characteristics of which is the existence of a black line sm-romithng 
the base of the stroma, in which the perithecia are imbedded. If a thin section of the 
substance of this black line be examined under the microscope when the Sphaeria is ripe, 
it appears to be composed of dry carbonaceous matter in Avhich it is hardly possible 
to trace any structure ; but if examined at the period of growth of the above-mentioned 
specimens, it is seen to consist of strings of oval cells of a clear dark brown colour. 
Precisely similar cells are frequently to be seen near the base of the perithecia of other 
species of Splioeria^ which doubtless belong to the mycelium, and I suspect therefore 
that the black line above alluded to, and which has been supposed to be the outer coat 
of the stroma, is in fact formed by the cells of the mycelium. If this be so, the occur- 
rence of the Sphaeria and the Cytispora within the same circle wmdd seem to make it 
reasonable to assume that the two are the produce of the same mycelium. 
Fig. 3 represents the oval cells above-mentioned, and tig. 4 the sporidia of the 
