A Monograph of the Geoglosseae. 
BY 
GEORGE MASSEE, F.L.S. 
Principal Assistant ( Cryptogams ), Royal Herbarium , Kew. 
With Plates XII and XIII. 
Morphology and Reproduction. 
HE amount of histological differentiation is very slight 
-L throughout the entire group : parenchymatous tissue, 
resulting from the complete union on every surface of 
hexagonal, more or less isodiametric cells, so characteristic 
of the ‘ cortex ’ or external stratum of the ascophore in other 
groups of the Discomycetes, is entirely absent from the 
members of the Geoglosseae ; and in some of the most 
primitive species, as Geoglossum hirsutum , there is no clear 
line of demarcation between the fertile or ascigerous portion 
of the ascophore and the sterile or stem-like base. The 
stem in all known species is elongated and somewhat slender, 
and consists of a bundle of slender, transversely septate, 
usually unbranched hyphae, which are parallel and densely 
packed together at the periphery, and become lax and more 
or less interwoven at the centre. If a transverse section of 
a young stem is examined under the microscope it will be 
seen that the component cells separate readily from each 
other if the cover-glass is moved laterally, whereas in a 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XI. No. XLII. June, 1897.] 
