552 
ME. F. CtJEEEY OX THE FEUCTIFICATIOX 
of distinction, may be seen by referring to the sixth spore from the top in the ascus. 
Plate XXVI. fig. 25, where the cell is divided by a longitudinal septum. Besides this 
variety in the sporidia, which estabhshes at least a capacity if not a tendency to change 
of form in the fructification, I have found perithecia in the same stroma producing the 
very dissimilar bodies shown in fig. 28, a, 5, c, d, of which a and h do not differ from 
the ordinary form of sporidium of Spharia lanciformis, and c and d are exactly the 
fruit of Hendersonia polycystis minus the gelatinous border. The absence of the latter 
is easily accounted for, since all sporidia which have gelatinous envelopes lose them in 
process of time, and the specimens in which these different forms were foimd were 
unfortunately so far past their prime that the perithecia were almost empty. This latter 
circumstance may perhaps be considered as throwing some doubt upon the observation, 
and it certainly would have been more satisfactoiy to have found the SphEeria and 
Hendersonia in full fruit in the same stroma ; but if the facts I have stated be not con- 
sidered sufficient to establish the identity of the two plants, they must, I think, be 
admitted to afford reasonable grounds for a suspicion of relationship between them. 
If the Hendersonia be an imperfect form of the Sphseria, then the so-called perithecia 
and fruit of the former will be (to adopt M. Tulasne’s terminology) the pycnidia and 
stylospores of the Sphseria. In the last vol. of the ‘ Annales des Sciences,’ M. Tulasne 
has described what he considers to be the conidioid form of fruit of Spliaria lanciformis. 
and which from his description (there being no figures) I take to be a species of Cory- 
neum, which occurs in the neighbourhood of London upon dead branches of Bhch. 
3. Sphceria siparia, B. & Be., and Prosthemium hetulimim, Kuxze. — This Sphteria. 
perhaps the most beautiful of all the British species in regard to fructification, Avas fii'st 
described in the ‘ Annals of Natural History ’ by Messrs. Beekelet and Become. It 
belongs to the division Obtectse, and occurs upon twigs of Bhch. The perithecia are 
large and depressed, and furnished with a short central ostiolum, and are stated in the 
^ Annals ’ to be clothed with a more or less dense ferruginous wool. This description 
quite accords Avith specimens in my herbarium, Avith the exception of the colour of the 
wool, which I find quite white, a difference AA'liich may depend upon the period of 
growth at which the plants are examined. Fig. 29, Plate XXYI. represents an Ascus 
Avith sporidia and two free sporidia. The sporidia are oblong-elliptic, but sometimes 
slightly cuiwed, and divided into a number of cells by transverse and longitudinal 
septa. There is a slight constriction at each transverse septum, and each sporidium is 
surrounded by a gelatinous border, Avhich, after the sporidia haAe escaped from the 
ascus, is of some Avidth. The colour of the sporidia, Avhen in their prime, or rather. 
I think, just before maturity, is a bright golden yelloAv, Avhich subsequently changes 
to a clear broAvn tint, after which the gelatinous coat disappears. Their mean length is 
^gth of an inch. The broAvn colour is precisely that of the spores oi Prosthemium 
hetuUnum, which latter plant I suspect to be an altered form of the Splunria. 
In the first place, Sphwria siparia and Prosthemium hetulinum are almost ahvays 
associated in groAvth. Whenever the one is found, a very slight search Avill usually 
