Studies in North American Discomycetes. I. The Genus Holwaya 



Sacc. 



By Elias J. Durand 

 (With Plate 26) 



In the autumn of 1895, I collected a discomycete on a large 

 prostrate log in the vicinity of Ithaca, which I determined at the 

 time as Holwaya ophiobolns (Ellis) Sacc, since it agreed in all 

 respects with the specimens in Ellis's N. A. F., No. 996. My 

 plants were accompanied by a Hyphomycetous fungus referable 

 to genus Graphium. The possible connection of the two forms 

 suggested itself to me at the time, but I thought no more about it 

 until the winter of 1898, when Professor Burt read a paper before 

 the Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology, at Ithaca, on 

 the subject, " Is there a Basidiomycetous stage in the life history 

 of some Ascomycetes ? " Since that time I have been collecting 

 notes and observations on which the present paper is based. 



The genus Holwaya was described by Saccardo in 1889, to 

 include a Bulgariaceous discomycete externally resembling Bul- 

 garia inquinans (Pers.) Fr., but differing from it in the possession 

 of filiform, multiseptate spores. The genus was based on Bulgaria 

 ophiobolus Ell., which had already been described from material 

 collected in Iowa by Hoi way, and distributed in Ellis's N. A. R, 

 No. 996. According to the original description the plant is 

 '■ composed of two layers, separated by a gelatinous stratum/' 

 This gelatinous character was not evident in my material (Fig. 



8). 



A second species in the genus, H tiliacea E. & E., was 

 described in 1897, from material collected in Canada, on the 

 bark of dead Tilia. The differences between this and the first 

 species are not very evident from the descriptions. In 1899, 

 Professor Burt sent me specimens collected on basswood logs, at 

 Middlebury, Vt., and determined by Mr. Ellis as H. tiliacea E. & E. 

 In an accompanying note Professor Burt said that he did not see 



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