Order 1. Sordariaceæ.—Fungi living on dung with fragile perithecia, either aerial or buried in the substratum. The dark brown or black spores have either a mucilaginous envelope (Sordaria, etc.) or mucilaginous appendages (Podospora), by means of which their expulsion and distribution are promoted.
Order 2. Chætomiaceæ. Perithecia fragile, free, bearing on the summit a tuft of hairs. Chætomium, on decaying vegetable matter.
Orders 3–7. Perithecia scattered or aggregated, situated from the commencement on the surface of the substratum. Stroma wanting.
Order 3. Trichosphæriaceæ. Trichosphæria parasitica (Fig. [121]), on Abies alba; Herpotrichia nigra on Picea excelsa and Pinus montana.
Fig. 121.—Trichosphæria parasitica: a a twig of Abies alba, with epiphytic mycelium; b a leaf with mycelium and sporangia (magnified); c a sporangium (× 60); d an ascus with spores (× 550).
Order 4. Melanommaceæ. Rosellinia quercina lives in the roots of 1–3-year-old Oaks, and destroys the plants.
Order 5. Ceratostomaceæ.
Order 6. Amphisphæriaceæ. Strickeria obducens (Fig. [120]) has brick-like spores, and lives aggregated on the hard branches of Fraxinus.
Order 7. Lophiostomaceæ.