TAB. CCCLVI.
SPHÆRIA aurea.
The remarkable appearance which this fungus occasions on the dead branches of the willow, cannot but be admired. The Rev. Mr. Relhan of Cambridge first sent it me in the spring of 1801, under the name of Sphæria aurea. The Rev. Mr. Holme has since communicated a specimen on the Salix cinerea from Hinton near Cambridge, Nov. 1, 1801; and the Rev. Mr. Kirby of Barham, Suffolk, favoured me with specimens on the leaves of Salix caprea, Nov. 30, 1801, too late to make any addition to my figure. The yellow margin is a curious effect caused by the growth of the fungus; and even the fungus itself seems chiefly composed of the bark, which is changed into a shining black, covering a quantity of black powder, but not very regularly; and when old the cuticle bursts irregularly, often on one side, emitting the dust. There is more or less of a white substance below the powder. It seems to last a year from the first breaking out, exhibiting the yellow margin most vivid in spring, the black powder in autumn.
TAB. CCCLVII.
SPHÆRLA steercoraia.
The was given me by Dawson Turner, Esq. found near Yarmouth, and is one of those that upon minute examination shows the white powder enclosed in the circumference which seems analogous to pollen, and the black powder in the middle to feed. The mouth at the top may sometimes be seen with the black powder edged by the brown case that holds it; the next two circles being formed by the white powder; and the outer case, which seems partly covered by a roughish clothing, adhering to the straws, &c. Another species I have observed is either in a less perfect state, or of a more simple construction, with a more acuminated mouth, and a single black case with or without black powder. I propose to call it [Sphæria folitaria. It grows on the earth. See the lower figure.
