I !
I .
'Ù
1.
ìli
H
POLYTHRINCIUM T iu f o l i i .
Trefoil Polythrincium.
C lass a n d O k d e r CRYPTOGAMIA FUNGI.—N a t . O r d . BVSSOIDEÆ, Grev.
—MUCEDINES, Link.
GENERIC ch a r a c t er .
Thallus e Jibris’' coespitosis, cohratis, erectis, simplicibus, multiseptatis. Sporidia
didyma inspersa.
Thallus composed of coloured, erect, simple, tufted, jointed filaments.
Sporidia 2-celled, scattered.
SPECIFIC c h a r a c t er .
P o l y th r in c ium Trifo lii;......................................
P o l y th r in c ium Trifolii, Kunze, Mycol. Heft. 1. p. 13. t. 1. f. 8.—Deutschl.
Schwoem. Fasc. 5. p. 5. No. 121.
H ab. On the inferior surface of living leaves of several species of T r fo -
lium. Autumn. About Edinburgh in October, not very rare.
T o the naked eye, this little plant appears in the form of numerous minute
black spots of unequal size. Under the microscope, these spots are
each found to consist of a number of distinct little roundish tufts of
filaments, nearly equidistant from one another, and becoming smaller
towards the circumference. The filaments are densely crowded, semitransparent,
gradually thickening upwards, somewhat moniliform from
the numerous articulations, erect, simple; the sporidia oval, 2-celled,
scattered among the filaments.
The first notice of this new genus by Professor K u n z e , is
contained in the collection of dried specimens of “ Fungi,”
• published by him and M. S c h m id t under the title o f Deutschlands
Schwaemme, in the 5th Part of which is a character and
specimen of the plant. A more complete description, accompanied
with a figure, was afterwards introduced into the first
fasciculus of “ Mykologische Hefte nebst einem allgemein-botanischen
Anzeiger.”
P ro fe sso r K u n z e observes, th a t th e sporidia lie towards
th e base o f the filaments, so th a t th e y m a y be ea sily o v e r lo o k ed ;