Argopsis 2 
while his figure of the orossection of a cephalodium suggests the 
cerehriform tvpe. 
Zhalbruckner tried to reconcile the literature without a critical 
study of material of either species, resulting in misstatements such 
as citing A. me g alos pora from Kerguelen rather than from Campbell Island 
and stating that the eight small spores coalesce to form a degenerate 
brown mass. 
Fortunatel-v the type of S tereo c aulon Argus Tavl. and a duplicate 
of the tvpe collection of S. c ymosnm Cromhie are present and fruiting 
in the Taylor Herbarium at the Boston Society of Natural History. The 
former specim.en agrees with Th, Fries' description of Argopsis, the 
second, with the description of A. F riesia na Mull. Arg. Both are similar 
in podetial characters and cephalodia to Stereoc a u lon * 
S'.Argus has a hvaline parathecium and hvpothecium, asci apparently not 
more than 2-spored, of which one early degenerates, leaving a single 
large muriform spore very similar to those of Lopadium, remaining 
hyaline until late, then becoming slightly yellowish brown, not the 
deep brown muriform spore of R hizocarpon . S. cymp_sum_has a brownish 
parathecium (not carbonaceous in the apothecium sectioned), asci 4-8- 
spored; ascospores with three transverse septa and an accasional longi¬ 
tudinal or oblique septum, producing a few-c’elled muriform s^ore simi¬ 
lar tos those in Joll ema sect. Ble nnthalli a. Were it not for the ex¬ 
treme form of 3. Argus , there is little to distinguish S.cymosum from 
from Stereocaulon where the sterile material was. referred. Until 
more information is available, it is largely a master oi individual 
opinion whether the generic limits should be circumscribed to include 
only S. Argus or enlarged to include 3. cym osum. I have adopted the 
latter course. Both species seem to be endemic to small ai’eas, but it 
is possible that they have heen referred to some variety of 3. ra mulosum 
