B ay liss- Elliott and Grove. — Roesleria pallida, Sacc. 41 1 
break up they are seen like a ‘ chaplet ’ or chain of eight conidia perched 
upon a little stalk (Fig. 4). 
The figure of Rehm (Rabenh. Krypt.-Flor., vol. i, pt. 3, p. 385) shows 
in a sectional view of the apothecium a decided cup which does not exist at 
all in any of the specimens which we have examined ; nor is the hymenium 
flat as there represented, but convex and hemispherical, or even umbilicate 
beneath (Fig. d). The asci are not distinctly clavate, nor are the spores 
distichous. The spores in the intact ascus (except sometimes the end 
ones) never show their widest diameter like a chain of spherical conidia, as 
represented by Rehm, but only after they have been disturbed. The mis- 
taken idea about the spores, which are described by Rehm as c kuglig-rund 
arose from the fact that under the microscope the majority of the loose 
spores naturally settle on their flat sides, and look quite round. The edge- 
wise lying spores were either overlooked or ignored. The old idea men- 
tioned by Saccardo (Syll. Fung., iv, 579), that Roesleria was a genus closely 
allied to Pilacre (both being Hyphomycetes), arose from the excessive 
diffluence of the asci. The spores can often be seen, still in rows, but 
without any sign of the ascus (Fig. 4) ; these chains then break up and 
finally form a dense pulverulent mass interspersed among the radiating 
paraphyses. The enormous quantity of the spores is due to the fact that 
the asci are produced and ripen successively over a long period. In 
a fresh undisturbed state the outside of the mass of spores is bordered 
by the projecting upper ends of the paraphyses, which are sometimes 
colourless and at others look somewhat brownish. 
Massee’s figure (Diseases of Cult. PI., p. 289) is also incorrect, as it 
shows the spores as if perfectly spherical and arranged in the same manner 
as in the figure of Rehm. 
Rehm’s Coniocybe pilacriformis ( 1 . c., p. 1223), which is Roesleria 
pilacriformis , Hennings, on roots of Rose and Paliurus , is exactly identical 
with some of the slender forms of R. pallida. The stalk of the latter often 
closely approaches ‘ reh-braun and is less than ~ mm. thick, as Rehm 
describes his species ; his spores are ‘ monostichous, 6-7 fi long and broad, 
or 5 fx broad ’, which again can be paralleled among some of our specimens, 
since they are in fact a little nearer, on the whole, to R. pilacriformis than 
to R. pallida. 
R. hypogaea { — R. pallida) is described by Prillieux (Bull. Soc. Bot. 
Fr., 1881, xxviii, 275) and by Gillet as occurring in quantity on the roots of 
vines, causing the disease called ‘ Pourridie des Vignes \ It has also been 
found in this country on the roots of Rose-trees, and abroad on the bark of 
Oak, Lime, Elm, fruit trees, Poplar, Maple, Alder, and Hornbeam. 
About Pilacre , it was found that authentic specimens (from Berkeley’s 
herbarium) of P. Peter sii, B. and C., are perfectly identical with P. faginea, 
B. and Br., as was stated by Tulasneso long ago as 1865 (Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., 
