469 
S P H 
* 4. Sphaeranthus-Cochin-chinensis.— Leaves decurrent, ob¬ 
long, quite entire; heads cordate-ovate;' subsessile,' termi¬ 
nating. Stem herbaceous.—Native of China and Cochin- 
china, among the corn, and in gardens. 
Propagation and Culture. —Sow the seeds in a hot-bed 
in the spring, and keep the plants in a stove or glass-case, 
giving them as much air as possible in warm weather. 
SPH2ERIA, in Botany, a genus of plants of the class 
cryptogamia, order fungi, natural order fungi, angiocarpi 
(Juss.) — Essential Character. Capsules roundish, im¬ 
mersed, filled with jelly, which becomes a mass of minute, 
volatile seeds. 
Persoon enumerates 184 species, distributed in eight sec¬ 
tions, of each of which we shall exhibit examples. 
I —Caulescent, elongated or club-shaped ; their substance 
either fleshy or corky. Ten species. 
]. Sphaeria mililaris, or scarlet club-shaped sphaeria.— 
Tawny red, or scarlet, fleshy, club-shaped. Plead granu¬ 
lated with the prominent seed-vessels.—Persoon mentions 
this as found in autumn, after great rains, in wet grassy 
places, always growing out of some dead caterpillar or chry¬ 
salis. Withering appears to confound various distinct spe¬ 
cies under the above name. 
2. Sphaeria hypoxylou, or horned black sphaeria.—Clus¬ 
tered, branched, compressed; black and hairy below; white- 
ish and dilated at the summits. Its usual height is three or 
four inches. The hairiness is most copious and coarse on 
young plants. In winter, the summits of the branches are 
plentifully covered with white powder, but destitute of 
the spherical seed-vessels.—Common on rotten stumpsor 
posts, in woods and gardens, making a conspicuous ap¬ 
pearance. 
3. Sphaeria digitata, or finger-shaped black sphaeria.— 
Clustered, club-shaped, obtuse, tumid, coal-black. — Fre¬ 
quent on old rotten stumps in beech woods, as well as on 
old posts of different kinds, into which its long perennial 
roots deeply insinuate themselves; the fungus springing up 
every autumn, in the shape of numerous, simple or divided, 
hard, black, rough, finger-like bodies; whitish at the sum¬ 
mit while young, and tapering below into very slender 
stalks. 
II. —Roundish or diffuse, without a stem. Thirteen species. 
4. Sphaeria conceotrica, or concentric black sphaeria.— 
Roundish, tumid, firm, smooth, with numerous concentric 
internal layers. Usually coal-black, somewhat shining, in 
globular masses, the size of a chesnut, or larger, and of the 
substance and lightness of charcoal.—Frequeut on the de¬ 
cayed stumps of ash, willow, and other trees. 
5. Sphaeria fragiformis, or orange sphaeria.—Clustered, 
somewhat confluent, of a rusty red; black and shining 
within. Seed-vessels minutely papillary, in the deciduous 
coat. Each plant is the size of a pea, more or less, bright 
red when young. In an advanced state they become con¬ 
fluent, of a brick colour, and the coat, in which the minute 
seed-vessels are lodged, scales off, leaving a black central 
mass, mistaken by Mr. Sowerby for the seed.—Frequent on 
rotten branches and stumps in damp woods. 
III. —Shape roundish, but various and indeterminate. Cap¬ 
sules scattered horizontally, with prominent orifices, often 
spinous. Tw r enty-three species. 
6. Sphaeria deusta, or large spreading sphaeria.—Broad, 
indeterminate, thick, wavy and tumid; at first grey and 
powdery; finally black and rigid. Capsules sunk.—Not 
uncommon on old rotten stumps, over which it spreads, to 
the extent of two or three inches, in thick, diffuse, unequal 
masses. 
7. Sphaeria ceratosperma, or horn-seeded sphaeria. — 
Roundish, convex, scattered, black. Capsules with long 
prominent beaks.—Found by Micheli, in woods near Flo¬ 
rence, chiefly on dead branches of hazel, in the winter. 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1584. 
S P II 
IV. —Shape indeterminate. Capsules horizontal; at first 
Ynarginab-andseparate; afterwards confluent. Twenty- 
four species. 
8. Sphaeria graminis, or grass sphaeria,—Linear-oblong, 
forming shining black spots upon leaves. Capsules glo¬ 
bose, without prominent beaks.—Observed by Persoon on 
the leaves of elymus europaeus and lolium perenne, in the 
shape of oblong, black, slightly prominent spots; various in 
length, which, when cut vertically, display a series of sunk 
globular capsules, not projecting above the surface. 
- The rest of this section are similarly pirasitical on the 
leaves or stalks of various plants. 
V. —Capsules crowded into an elevated tuft, on - a common 
crustaceous receptacle; their beaks converging. Fifteen 
species. 
9. Sphaeria ferruginea, or rusty-crusted sphaeria.—Cap¬ 
sules black, with taper straight beaks; their bases surrounded 
with rusty powder.—Gathered by Persoon, on dry branches 
of hazel. 
VI. —Capsules ranged circularly, mostly decumbent, without 
a crust, lodged under the cuticle of plants, their orifices 
generally crowded together. Fourteen species. 
10. Sphaeria convergens, or converging sphaeria.—Aggre¬ 
gate, slightly prominent. Capsules black, ovate, with 
straight beaks, all meeting in a point. 
VII. —Capsules distinct, forming a roundish tuft, on a com¬ 
mon receptacle, and bursting through the cuticle of 
plants. Eleven species. 
11. Sphaeria coccinea, or scarlet sphaeria.—Tufted, pale 
red. Capsules ovate, smooth. The capsules are minute, 
half sunk in the tumid receptacle, each with a short beak. 
—Said to be not unfrequent on dead branches of beech; 
consisting of scattered oval tufts, half the size of a pea, bor¬ 
dered by the reflexed torn cuticle of the branch. There is a 
larger and brighter-coloured variety, found by Dr. Roth on 
the elder. 
VIII. —Capsules solitary, distinct, destitute of a receptacle. 
Eighty-three species. 
12. Sphaeria pileata, or cap sphaeria.—Simple, globose; 
its mouth inversely conical, flat at the top, with a linear 
orifice.—Found sunk in the bark of dead branches of trees, 
in the early spring. 
13. Sphaeria rostrata, or needle-beaked sphaeria.—Simple, 
naked, globose, granulated, with a very long taper-pointed 
beak.—Found more or less immersed in rotten beech wood. 
14. Sphaeria herbarum, or flat common sphaeria.—Simple, 
scattered, orbicular, more or less depressed, smooth, brown, 
with a nipple-shaped mouth.—Copious on the dried stalks 
of various herbaceous plants. 
15. Sphaeria moriformis, or mulberry-shaped sphaeria.— 
Simple, scattered, elliptical or roundish, closed, tuberculated, 
black. This, like the following, belongs to a tribe of 
species destitute of a beak, or any perceptible orifice. Its size 
is about equal to a mustard seed. The whole surface is tu¬ 
berculated. The shape elliptical, or globular.—Said to be 
not unfrequent on dead branches, especially of firs. 
16. Sphaeria cylindrica, or cylindrical ball-bearing sphae¬ 
ria.—Simple, scattered, cylindrical, black, bearing a globe of 
white seeds.—Found by Tode on rotten willows, protruding 
from the wood in the form of minute, scattered, black points, 
hardly visible to a casual observer, each crowned by a little 
white ball of seeds. 
SPFIiERISTERIUM [ o-tpcuoi^reowv , Gr.], in Antiquity, 
the seventh part of the ancient gymnasium; being that in 
which the youth practised tennis-playing. 
SPII2EROBOLUS, [in Botany, so named by Tode, from 
the Gr. crpaiga,, a globe, and /3oAo?, a cast, or throw ; be¬ 
cause the seeds are forcibly ejected, in the form of a little 
round ball.] See Lyecoperdon. 
SPIIrEROCARPUS [having a globular fruit], in Botany, 
a genus of cryptogam ia hepaticse.—Generic Character. 
Calyx ventricose, undivided. Seeds numerous, collected 
into a globe. 
6 D 
SPHrEROLOBIUM 
