256 
Journal of Mycology 
[Vol. 11 
discoidea P. Hennings 21 . A photograph of this species is repro¬ 
duced in Plate 88, Figs. 22, 23, from a specimen from the Ber¬ 
lin Museum which I was able to obtain through the courtesy of 
Dr. Hennings. His description translated reads as follows: 
“Balansia discoidea P. Henn. 11 . sp. Stromata in culms sclerotioid, 
blackened effuse for about 3- cm. gregarious, lenticular, discoid, frequently 
compressed, angular, 2-4 mm. diameter, surface punctate-rugulose, black, 
soft fleshy, drying horny, within pale; perithecia oblong-ovoid, immersed, 
punctate, ostiolate; asci oblong, cylindrical, apex globulose, truncate, 
base attenuate, 150-200 x 4-6/*, aparaphysate; spores filiform, longitud¬ 
inally parallel, septulate, hyaline, about 0.6-8.8/* in diameter. 
St Catherine, Blumenau, on Culms of Chloris distichophylla Lag. E. 
Ule. No. 1334.” See Plate 88, Figs, 22, 23. 
In the Kansas specimens the mycelium of the general stroma 
has made little invasion into the tissue of the host. The general 
stroma is dark gray while that of Balansia discoidea from Brazil 
is black. The latter also is soft and somewhat fleshy when fresh, 
hard when dry. The Kansas material is also hard and brittle 
when dry but what the condition was when fresh we have no 
record. It will be seen that the specimens differ slightly from 
those of Balansia discoidea from Brazil, but it seems better to 
locate them provisionally in this species. It is to be hoped that 
students and collectors will search for more of these specimens, 
endeavor to find the conidial stage, and to make careful notes on 
the characters of the plant as to consistency, etc., while it is fresh. 
Good service could be rendered by culture work in this genus. 
Hennings says , 1 . c. 78) that this species as well as B. ses- 
silis P. Henn. from East Africa, in the sesile nature of the stro¬ 
mata show a transition to the Dothidiaceae. The perithecial 
walls, however, in B. discoidea from Brazil and in Kansas speci¬ 
mens are very distinct from the tissue of the stroma. The 
Balansia sessilis 22 P. Henn. occurs on culms of a species of Andro- 
pogon in East Africa. This is also close to Balansia discoidea and 
differs chiefly in the subglobose stromata and the more slender 
spores, which are Yi /a in diameter. A translation of the descrip¬ 
tions is as follows: 
“Balansia sessilis P. Henn. Stromata in black sclerotioid culms, 
sparse, sessile, subglobose, pulvinate, black, tuberculate, within pallid, 
fleshy, about l£-2 m.m. diameter; perithecia immersed, ovoid; asci cylin¬ 
drical, apex round, thickened, eight spored, base attenuate, 220-300x3^-4; 
sporidia longitudinally parallel, filiform, pluriguttulate or obsoletely sep¬ 
tate, hyaline, scarcely |/* thick. Hab. in culms of Andropogon species, 
Uluguru, tropical Africa (Goetze.)” 
Since Balansia antedates Ophiodothis by three years, the name 
Ophiodothis cannot be retained for Dothidea vorax which was the 
first species placed in the genus by Saccardo 2S . Nor can the 
21 Heldw., 39 (77) 1900: Sacc. Syll. Fung., 16 , 608, 1902. 
22 Engl. Bot. Jahrb., 28 , 336, 1900. Sacc. Syll. Fung., 16 , 609, 1902. 
25 Syll. Fung. 2, 652, 1883. 
