found growing on the same plant.” This conjecture I cannot
but acknowledge to he highly probable; and it derives additional
support from our knowledge of the structure of the Lichen
pubescens, which is that of an Alga; and consequently the fructification
delineated in the excellent “ English Botany,” cannot
actually have belonged to that plant.
Fig. 1. a, Bangia atrovirens, with Sphceria affinis, nat. size, b, A branch with
perithecia, magnified, c, A perithecium. d, Thecce and sporidia.— All
magnified except the first.
SPHÆRIA P e z iz a .
Red collapsed Sphceria.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
S ph æ r ia Peziza; gregaria, mollis ; perilheciis globosis,
aurantiaco-rubellis, collabescendo, concavis, basi
lævibus, .mbpapillatis.
S p h . gregarious, soft; perithecia globose, smooth, orifice subpapillate, orange-
red, becoming concave from collapsion, subpilose at the base.
S p h æ r ia Peziza, Tode, Fung. 2. p . 46. f. 122.—Pers. Syn. p . 66.—Alb.
et Schmein. p . 34— Tie Cand. FI. Franç. v. 2. p . 295.—Ejusd. Syn. p . 61.
—Fries, in Vet. Ac. Handl. 1817, p- 264.—Set. Suec. Exsicc. No. 235.—
Syst. Mycol. v. 2. p . 452.—Moug. et Nestl. Stirp. Exsicc. No. 483.—Nees,
Syst. t. 44. f. S6l.— Hook. FI. Scot. p t. 2. p . 7-—Crev. FI. Edin. p . 363.—
Schmein. Fung. Carol. No. I 67.
S p h æ r i a m in ia ta , Flojfm. Bot. Taschenb. 2. t. 12. f. 2.
P e z i z a h y d r o p h o r a , Bull. Champ, p . 2 4 5 . t. 4 1 0 . f. 2.
L y co pe rd o n h y d r o p h o r um . Som. Fung. t. 23.
H ab. On rotten wood in autumn and spring. Occasionally about Edinburgh.
Perithecia gregarious, minute, globose, smooth, with a slightly papillate orifice,
orange-red, of a soft substance, and becoming at length collapsed,
and concave like a Peziza. The base is paler, and somewhat villose.
In one variety, named var. ghbifera by F r ie s , the interior mass of
fructification, of a white colour, is exuded, and assumes the form of
a little gelatinous ball. Thecoe very slender, filled with 6-10 oval sporidia,
of a yellow colour.
A b e a u tifu l and b y no m eans common spec ies, u su a lly produ
c ed on m o ist wood, in a sta te o f g r ea t decay. S o w e r b y
erroneously im a g in ed th a t i t resem bled Sphcerobolus stellatus
in its structure, from th e g en e r a l appearance o f th e glohiferoiis
va r ie ty .
Fig. 2. a, Sphceria Peziza on a piece o f mood, nat. size, b, Perithecia, some
o f them collapsed, c, Perithecia o f the globiferiferous variety, d, A peri-
thecium. e. The same collapsed, f, A globferous perUheci.-.m. g, Theca;
containing sporidia.— All magnified except the first.
w.