Lloyd Mycological Writings V4.pdf - MykoWeb

I have several times found this plant growing in rotting sod, but its occurrence
in such profusion suggests an interesting question. No one had observed it in
this locality previously, which with a plant of such distinction would indicate extreme
rarity. How are we to account for its immediate appropriation of the entire
field when the sod was broken up? The conditions were undoubtedly favorable for
its development, but the vast numbers of plants produced so quickly seem hard to
explain.
I have observed the same problem in regard to other species of fungi. Three
years ago about three acres of woodland which form part of my collecting ground
at Asheville was burned over in the late spring. In the fall of the same year the
whole tract was covered with fine specimens of Armillaria robusta which I had
not observed in that place before and which has not occurred there since except
sparingly. It could have been gathered by the bushel and persisted for weeks.
For some reason the burned ground was favorable to its growth, but how did it
secure such complete possession so quickly?
CYTIDIA TREMELLOSA.
LEGEND. We have had in hand, for a number of years, a tremelloid plant that we collected in
Louisiana and which we have been unable to have determined. We have always supposed that it belonged
to the Tremellaceae, but could not satisfy ourselves as to the nature of the basidia, and we were,
therefore, unable to determine it generically. We recently sent it to Rev. H. Bourdot, who has made
special study of the structure of the resupinate fungi and is expert in that line of work. He informed
us that it belongs to the genus "Cytidia, Quelet." As we had no specific name for it, we have given
it one in keeping with the custom in these matters. We do not know anything at all about resupinate
Thelephoraceae, nor the species, and hence it is evident we are specially qualified to find "new
species." We hardly think that it has a specific name, however, for it is quite evident that had it
been named in American mycology, it would have been classed as a Tremella, and we have worked
over pretty thoroughly the Tremellaceae of America. We have reproduced the structural characters
from Rev. Bourdot 's letter, together with a diagram showing the structure.
Fig. 512
Cytidia tremellosa.
Natural size: fresh and dried specim
5 '6