CRYPTOSPHÆRIA t a x i .
Yew Cryptosphoeria.
C la ss a n d O r d e r CRYPTOGAMIA FUNGI, Linn ^Na t .O r d . H Y P O X Y L A , Dc Cand.
Grev.—FUNGI, Juss. Hook.
G EN ERIC CHARACTER.
Receptaculum 0. Sphoeruloe duriusculce, sparsa; vel aggregata;, suh epidermide
insidentes, ore nunc depresso nunc elongato, erecto aut inclinato, inlus massa
gelatinosa sporulifcra inslructoe. Sporula; semper ? nudæ.
Receptacle 0. Spherules corneous, scattered or aggregated, lying beneath
the epidermis, with a depressed or elongated, erect or inclined orifice,
and containing a gelatinous sporuliferous mass. Sporules always?
naked.
S P E C IF IC CHARACTER.
Cryptosphæria T axi; minala, sparsa; ostiolo brevissimo non exserto. Epidermis
folii convexa, centro paulidum elevato et ruplo. Sporuloe nudæ minutissima;.
C. minute, scattered ; mouth very short, and not exserted. Epidermis of
the leaf convex, and slightly raised and ruptured in the centre. Sporules
naked, extremely minute.
Cryptosphæria Taxi, Grev. Fl. Edin. ined.
Sphæria Taxi, Som. Eng. Fung. t. 394. f. 6.
S p h æ r ia pinastri, Decand. Fl. F ra n f. v. 6. p. 133.
H ad. On the dead leaves of the Yew tree and of the Silver Fir, Pinus picea;
the whole year. I have found it in the woods at Craiglockhart, and at
Slateford, both near Edinburgh.
Spherules minute, scattered, round, depressed, buried in the parenchymous
substance of the leaf, and, as D e C a n d o l l e has correctly observed, perforating
indifferently the upper or under surface ; but only visible where
it slightly raises and bursts the epidermis, by means of its short, thickish
and obtuse mouth, which remains concealed. Sporules naked, very minute,
numerous, contained in a gelatinous mass, which dries into a hard substance,
but is soluble in water.
Tlie genus Cryptosphceria, I have formed to include those
plants of the old genus S plmria which are destitute of a receptacle,
and remain concealed beneath the epidemiis of vegetables,
wliich is only perforated by tlieir mouths: they are
V O L . 1.