754 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Voi. XXIII, No. 9 • 
We have in this species a case where the sexual and the asexual fruit 
bodies are very similar in several respects. The walls of both structures 
are composed of similar tissue, which is carbonized only at maturity. 
The ostiole in each form is prominent, being more or less papillate. 
The straw-colored buffer tissue is always present in both forms, splitting 
open in a characteristic fashion. The pseudoparenchymatous tissue at 
the center of the ascocarp breaks down, thus forming a central cavity. 
One need not confuse the two forms, since the perithecia react to the 
triple stain in a manner quite different from pycnidia. 
The very striking morphological parallelism shown in pycnidia and 
perithecia of this species raises again the question as to what extent 
this really occurs among other Ascomycetes, or how much dependence 
can be placed on such features in the search for other spore forms in the 
life cycle of a given fungus. Orton (9) called attention especially to 
various cases of similarity between pycnospores or conidia and the 
ascospores of certain species. While many examples where there is no 
such resemblance between the types of spores may be pointed out, it 
must be admitted that it would be a very natural morphological expres¬ 
sion of the inherent physiological or metabolic activities, based upon 
the constitution of the germ plasm. A feature worked out in the course 
of time for one spore form must of course have a basis in the apparatus 
of inheritance. It is surprising that these morphological parallelisms 
are not more frequent in the Ascomycetes, until one considers the par¬ 
ticular environmental conditions under which each type of spore or 
sporocarp performs its work. The spores of Hainesia lythri (Desm.) v. 
Hohnel and Sclerotiopsis concava ( 12) are identical, but the sporocarps 
bearing them have little in common, because the latter form has taken 
on the overwintering function. On the other hand, the discocarp stage, 
Pezizella, resembles the Hainesia. 
ABNORMAL ORIENTATION OF SPOROGENOUS TISSUE 
It is well known that in cultures of some forms of Ascomycetes it is 
possible, by changing the direction of illumination, to cause pycnidia or 
ascocarps to be formed in an oblique or an inverted position. In such 
cases the structure is inverted or changed as a whole. By suitable 
orientation of cultures of Schizoparme straminea with respect to light, 
gravity, and aeration the fungus can be induced to build sporogenous 
tissue at the top of the pycnidial cavity so that the sporophores and 
spores point downward as they are formed, while the buffer tissue and 
the ostiole develop in the normal fashion, pointing upward. Figure C 
in Plate 4 shows a stage in the development of the pycnidium just pre¬ 
ceding spore formation. The buffer tissue is not quite full grown, but 
other sections in the series show that an ostiole is just being formed 
through this tissue at one side of the sporogenous pulvinus so that, had 
this pycnidium been allowed to mature and then been cut in a plane at 
right angles to the one shown here, the relative positions of the sporo¬ 
genous tissue, buffer apparatus, and ostiole, would be the same as shown 
in PI. 6, C. In case the fertile tissue had been directly at the center 
above, there would have been two ostioles formed (PI. 6, D); this is in 
no way associated with two locules in the early stages. What bearing 
can these curious inversions of the sporogenous tissue have on the ques¬ 
tion of the methods of cavity formation? This is a complicated situation 
where we have a central cavity formed, sporogenous tissue delimited, 
