In many species the ascospores germinate and form conidia immediately (_Nectria cinnabarina_, _Sclerotinia_, _Taphrina_, etc.), sometimes while they are still in the ascus and before their ejection (_Taphrina_, Fig. 105 _a_). In many instances the conidia by means of continued budding can, for a longer or shorter time, produce yeast-conidia, _e.g. Taphrina_. In many other cases the conidia arise from the germ-tubes of the ascospores, or at any part of the mycelium. The unripe asci of _Taphrina_, when placed in water, develop conidia at their apices. The _Sclerotinia_-species produce numerous conidia whose germination has never been observed. The formation of conidia and asci sometimes takes place on the same fruit-body. In _Heterosphæria patella_ the conidia and asci are developed successively in the same fruit-body; in the ascocarps of _Dermatea frangula_ and _Sclerotinia sclerotiorum_ the formation of conidia may take place. The ascocarps frequently arise from the conidial-layers (_Nectria cinnabarina_, etc.). This relationship of the two forms of reproduction to each other may be explained by considering that both have descended phylogenetically from sporangia. Sometimes _chlamydospores_ and _oidia_ also appear in the Ascomycetes; on germination, however, they do not, as in _Protomyces_, form sporangia, and on this account cannot be distinctly distinguished from conidia. The asci are morphologically the highest form of reproduction and are always found at the close of the development of these Fungi; the accessory forms of reproduction are first developed, but a well-defined alternation of generations does not occur. In the Ascomycetes there are more than 11,000 described species, which can be classed as follows:-- Series 1. EXOASCI. Only one order. „ 2. CARPOASCI. Family 1. _Gymnoascales_, } „ 2. _Perisporiales_, } Angiocarpic Carpoasci. „ 3. _Pyrenomycetes_, } „ 4. _Hysteriales_, } Hemiangiocarpic Carpoasci. „ 5. _Discomycetes_,} „ 6. _Helvellales_, Gymnocarpic (?) Carpoasci. Additional _Ascolichenes_: Lichen-forming Ascomycetes. Series 1. =Exoasci.= Ascomycetes with FREE ASCI; sometimes also conidia, chlamydospores and oidia. One order. Order. =Taphrinaceæ.= Of the genera belonging to this order, _Taphrina_, _Endomyces_, and _Ascocorticium_, the first is most important. _Endomyces decipiens_ is a parasite in the fruit-body of _Armillaria mellea_; _E. magnusii_ lives in the gelatinous, fermenting exudations of Oak-trees; _Ascocorticium albidum_ is found under the bark of the Fir-tree. _Endomyces_ has chlamydospores and oidia.