390 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION, September 22, 1857. 
was published by myself in the Fourth Fasciculus of British 
Fungqunder the name of Asteroma labes, Asteroma being used 
with the same latitude in which it had been taken by Fries 
in his Elenchus. There is no question, however, that it 
cannot be congeneric with true species of Asteroma , which 
undoubtedly possess a real perithecium. Subsequently one 
or two more species were received by Dr. Montague from 
various quarters, who saw at once that they were congeneric 
with De Notaris’ species on Ivy; but in the absence of speci¬ 
mens, and with the obscurity thrown on Dr. Greville’s genus 
by Unger, he could not be aware of their generic identity 
with the plant of Greville. For these productions he has 
proposed the name of Glccosporium, and it is but proper 
courtesy to one who has done so much for these minute 
and obscure species to adopt his name, unless he should 
think fit to restore that of Greville, as to the identity of which 
there is now no doubt in the presence of abundant oppor¬ 
tunities of examining the true structure of his plant. The 
total absence of perithecium is undoubtedly a most im¬ 
portant circumstance, though we must not insist too nicely 
on the greater or less fusion of the perithecium in some of 
the lower species of Phoma, Sphccropsis, &c., with the sur¬ 
rounding tissues, as multiplied examinations of the same 
species under different circumstances show a great difference 
in this respect, and throw, perhaps, some doubt upon the sta¬ 
bility of Desmazieres’ genus Phlycloene. Indeed, in the genus 
Discella, where the lower portion of the perithecium is often 
quite confused with the cellular tissue and the stratum from 
which the sporophores are derived, the upper portion of 
the perithecium, even in the same species, varies greatly in 
its degree of development, being sometimes distinctly 
present, sometimes confused with the cuticle. Another 
nearly allied genus, if we are not mistaken, is entirely des¬ 
titute of a perithecium, but unfortunately the fungus which 
exhibits this character, from the admixture of Splueria 
maculceformis in the plate of Greville ( Septoria Ulrni), has 
been assumed as the type of a genus which clearly possesses 
a perithecium, and the species now assigned to it are so 
numerous as to make any retrograde step extremely incon¬ 
venient. The better plan will be to raise Septoria Ulmi to 
generic importance : the name Septorella is sufficiently dis- 
tiuct, and the genus will be characterised by possessing the 
characters of Glccosporium with the addition of the existence 
of true septa in the spores. 
A fresh examination of specimens in my own herbarium 
and in the published specimens of Kunze, Schmidt, Mougeot, 
Desmazieres, Lihert, and Rabenhorst, has quite convinced 
me that there is no perithecium. In Madame Libert’s 
specimens, Sphoeria maculceformis, though in an immature 
condition, as might be expected from its being on leaves 
which are still green, is intimately mixed up with the Sep- 
torella. Even in this case, however, the solid contents of 
the black immature sphcerules sufficiently indicate that they 
have nothing to do with the other fungus, and where both 
occur isolated from each other there is no difficulty about 
the matter. Sometimes the spores of the Septorella ooze 
out at once from the ruptured cuticle without anything that 
might deceive; but occasionally the cellular tissue becomes 
a little tawny where it is raised up by the subjacent spores, 
which induced Madame Libert to assign a tawny perithecium 
to the fungus, a very different thing indeed from the black 
perithecia figured by Greville. When, however, this dis¬ 
coloured tissue is removed, there is nothing like the regular 
cellular structure, which always exists in true perithecia. 
This fact was pointed out under Cytispora fuyax, in the 
“English Flora,” in 1836, as completely established by 
Desmazieres under No. 534 of his Plantes Cryptogames 
du Nord , though it seems to have escaped the notice of 
later writers, and indeed he has himself published since a 
host of species possessing beyond all doubt a true peri¬ 
thecium.—( Horticultural Society's Journal.) 
TULIP BEDS FOR EARLY BLOOMING. 
As the time is drawing nigh when the dwarf single 
early Tulips and the double varieties of tlio same will 
ho planted out in beds and borders to come in for spring 
flowers next year, bear in mind, or rather, remember 
my report of the Horticultural Society’s last April Meet¬ 
ing, and see which are said to be the best and earliest 
of them, and also see my report of the Pine Apple 
Nursery, where I saw them in bloom. All that I 
recollect is that Vermilion Brilliant is the best Tulip 
that ever yet appeared for the flower garden; that 
double dwarf Tulips make fine, showy, rich beds; 
but that all shades of purple, that is, self or one- 
coloured flowers in any shade of purple, make a dowdy 
bed (anything which is very dull in England is only 
dowdy in Scotland); and that all white Tulips of the 
early class are more or less of a sickly hue, which gives 
a bad impression on a dull, cold, pinching day in spring, 
while all shades of orange and yellow are cheerful. All 
mixtures of crimson or scarlet with white, or with white 
and orange in the same flower, make rich beds, gay 
beds, and cheerful beds; and all bright scarlets, to 
crimson or to Vermilion Brilliant, make striking beds, 
brilliant beds, and beds “ all in a blaze;” therefore, for 
those who do not happen to know the exact tints of the 
different kinds of early Tulips for bedding, instead of 
bothering their brains picking the names and the 
cheap kinds out of the trade lists, the best plan would 
be to send word to the shop which kind or kinds of 
Tulip beds they should like to have, according to the 
colours given in The Cottage Gardener of this date, 
and ask how much it would cost to plant such and such 
sized beds, the whole responsibility of the colours being 
on the dealer in Tulips, “ provided always and be it 
enacted” that no such beds shall be covered as they 
have covered the beds of native Tulips in Yorkshire. 
My correspondent says, “ I have been to the habitat of 
Tulipa sylvestris on the banks of the Don, and to my 
mortification found that the Yorkshire Railway Company 
have covered some acres of the field with the debris of 
their spare soil to the depth of twenty feet, and this 
Tulip, I fear, is lost to Yorkshire; but I know where 
it grows plentifully in the county of Durham.”—T. S. 
D. Beaton. 
THE ELM. 
The Elm sooner passes into a state of decay after 
reaching maturity than the Oak, Scotch Fir, Yew, and 
others of our indigenous trees. On the other hand it is 
much more rapid in growth than these when planted on 
a soil suitable for it, and it is also adapted for some 
purposes which other timbers are not. The framework 
of coffer dams, and, in fact, all things under ground or 
under water, are said to be more durable and economical 
if made of Elm than of any other wood. 
As an ornamental tree the Elm does not stand high, 
for its foliage is not remarkable; yet, when in the “ sere 
and yellow ” leaf, it is second to none at a certain time, 
the dark-coloured limbs and boughs contrasting strongly 
with the lemon colour of the falling leaf, and the shape 
of the tree is good. 
There are several varieties of Elm, but the two most 
distinct, and those which the timber dealer pays most 
attention to, are the Wych or Sand Elm, as it is often 
called, and the Dutch. The latter has several synonymes 
as well. 
The difference between these two is apparent to every 
one, the Dutch having a thick crusted bark of a dark 
colour, the bole usually straight for twenty or thirty 
feet or more, and then breaking off suddenly into a head, 
the limbs below that height generally projecting out¬ 
wards at right angles to the trunk, the trunk being more 
red than the other, and usually sound. The Wych or 
Winch Elm has a more stringy bark of a paler colour, 
the tree seldom so straight, but often higher; and 
though sound trees are tougher and stronger than those 
of the other species, they are more often shaken or un- 
