Lloyd Mycological Writings V4.pdf - MykoWeb

are in this country. Our common .Eastern plant which we call Polyporus picipes is thinner
and of darker color, but it is only a geographical form of Polyporus varius.
B -Q u 3 '^^ adulu ir !l ^ } j l? sum - Kalchbrenner (as Lopharia), from A. V.
British
Duthrie,
South Africa. Doubtfully distinct from Radulum mirabile. Kalchbrenner
the
proposed
genus Lopharia, apparently in ignorance of. the existence of the
and
genus
described
Radulum,
the hymenium as smooth. So it is to the eye, but under a microscope is
densely covered with large metuloids sometimes 100 mic. long. Massee discovered these and
based on them the genus Thwaitesiella. Patouillard took the idea from Massee, and
substituted Kalchbrenner's name, and cited his publication, although Kalchbrenner had not
the slightest conception or idea of a genus in the sense of Massee or Patouillard. I favor
calling it Radulum. It is a useless split, and the same thing could be done with many
other genera, such as Cladoderris.
NOTE 164. Lycoperdon multiseptum. Sent by A. V. Duthie, British South Africa.
This was sent as "our common, white puff ball." When I examined it under the microscope,
1 found it something quite uncommon. The capillitium is scanty, hyaline, thick,
8-10 mic., and divided by septa every 16-20 mic. I never before saw anything like it.
Excepting as to this peculiar'capillitium, the plant is Lycoperdon pratense in every character.
There are several species of Lycoperdon, viz. : pratense, Wrightii, etc., with hyaline
capillitium, septate at rare intervals, but this species has the septae so close that it could be
likened to the spores of some septate Geoglossum.
NOTE 165: Xerotus lateritius From S. C. Edwards, Gainesville, Fla. A rare genus
and fine specimen. The genus Xerotus needs revision very badly. It is mostly a tropical
genus, and I have an idea from looking through the covers at Kew that it is largely
one species. In short, it is a Panus with colored context, rigid, dry, usually distant,
colored gills. We have, we are sure, but one species in the Southern United States, which
was called by Berkeley, Xerotus lateritius and Xerotus viticola, and probably has other
names from other countries.
All Xerotus have hyaline spores. Cesati discovered that the spores were "nigricantes"
and based a genus Anthracophyllum on the discovery. Kalchbrenner confirmed it. What
they saw were not spores. Bresadola uses the genus, but remarks, "Spores not found, but
I scarcely believe that they are black." If the spores are not black, then of what value is
the genus? It seems to me the genus Anthracophyllum, based on a blunder only, should
be "zu streichen," as the Germans would say.
The spores of our American plant are piriform, 8x14, hyaline, apiculate, with granular
contents. The coloring matter of the plant is readily dissolved in potash, and the resulting
solution is dark-green.
I have a collection front the Philippines labeled Anthracophyllum nigrita, but I believe
it is the same as our American plant. It is darker in color, probably from age, but otherwise
seems the same to me. When the name of this plant is settled according to the
sacred law of priority, it will probably be Xerotus Berterii.
NOTE 166. Trametes lactea. From Mr. S. C. Edwards, Gainesville, Fla. This is
only the Trametes form of the common Lenzites repanda of the tropics.
NOTE 167. Cordyceps sobolifera, received from S. Kawamura, Tokyo, Japan. This
is a most welcome addition to my collection. The species was well illustrated by Tulasne,
from West Indian material, but no specimen is found in his herbarium. In fact I found
no specimen in any museum in Europe, and I believe the specimen just received is the
only one in any museum of America or Europe.
Cordyceps sobolifera was named from the West Indies in 1763. In the very early
times several papers were published regarding it, as in those days they supposed it to
be a mutation of an insect into a plant. It was said to be frequent in several West Indian
islands, but no specimen seems to have reached Europe. Dr. Kawamura writes me that
it is common in Japan. The species is not included in Matsumura's list.
NOTE 168. Hydnum mirabile, sent by Mrs. Frank E. Lowe, Worcester, Mass. There
has been much doubt as to the identity of this plant (cfr. Note 136). Peck years ago referred
it to Hydnum mirabile, as illustrated by Fries, but this has been questioned and
Atkinson proposed it as a "new species," Hydnum cristatum. Hydnum mirabile is a most
rare plant in Europe, and has not been found for sixty years until recently by Erik Haglund
at Norrkoping, Sweden. On comparison of the Swedish plant with our American
specimens, there is no doubt in my mind they are the same plant. Mrs. Lowe's specimens
were sent fresh, but when received by me they were partly dried. I can not detect the
acrid taste which this species is reported as having when fresh. Hydnum mirabile is tairly
common in our Eastern States. I have specimens from Mrs. Frank E. Lowe, R. B. Mackintosh,
Geo. E. Morris, and E. B. Sterling, all from Eastern stations.
NOTE 169. Polystictus Macounii, sent by Prof. John Macoun, Sidney, B. C., Canada.
This being the third time we have received the plant, we have concluded to give it a name.
By stretching a point, it might be considered as a form of that heterogeneous collection
called Polystictus versicolor, but this has a character that versicolor does not have. It is
reduced to the base, substipitate, petaloid. There are those who are disposed to undervalue
a character of this kind. There are some species, Polyporus Schweinitzii for instance,
where the stipe is not a character, but a condition. That is true also of most species of
Cladoderris. But what holds in some cases does not hold in the majority. Of the large
part of the species considered in our pamphlet, Stipitate Polyporoids, the stipe is s
essential and constant a character of the species as are legs a characteristic of a man. S>o
in this case. There are several hundred collections of Polystictus versicolor in our museum,
and I doubt if any of them have any tendency to form a stipe. But this plant does,
and besides it is about four times as large as the usual pileus of Polystictus versicolor. It
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