Clavarias of the United States and Canada 55 



sides, at times broadest near the tip and narrowly spatulate, again 

 more tapering, abruptly or gradually pointed, 2-12 mm. wide 

 above the middle, tapering downward to a slender, paler base about 

 1.5-2 mm. thick, which is not sharply defined from the club. Not 

 rarely the plants are much contorted and fantastically curved, re- 

 sembling at times a ram's horn. Color a deep primrose yellow, 

 or duller brownish yellow, the tip or the whole becoming water- 

 soaked and brownish in age, the very base light yellow and some- 

 what incrassated. Color unchanged or darker in drying. Tex- 

 ture moderately brittle, cracking at a bend of 45° but not snap- 

 ping clean. Taste bitter and farinaceous, disagreeable (lost on 

 drying) or varying to quite mild. 



Spores (of No. 1362) light yellow (fading to cream color in 

 the herbarium) or in some collections white, subspherical with a 

 small mucro, SA-6.7\i in diameter. Basidia club-shaped, about 

 7.S\j. thick, mostly 4-spored, but usually also some 2-spored in the 

 same plant, the sterigmata about as long as the diameter of the 

 spores. 



The species is widely distributed, occurring on humus or mossy 

 soil in woods. It is easily distinguished by its rather large size, 

 bright color, vaguely defined stem, typically cespitose habit, and 

 rather large, spherical spores. Not rarely there are single plants 

 among the clustered groups. This species with C. platyclada Pk. 

 comprises a very puzzling group of forms. The type collection of 

 the latter is well preserved in Albany and we have studied it care- 

 fully. In the dried state the plant cannot be distinguished from 

 many collections usually referred to C. fusiformis either in appear- 

 ance or microscopic detail. The plants are not hollow but neither 

 are many flattened plants of C. fusiformis. In the type of C. 

 platyclada the spores are smooth, spherical, 4.4-6.6(j. thick ; basidia 

 5.5-6.6[i. thick, mostly 4-spored, but a good many 2-spored; hy- 

 menium about 90(i. thick, light olivaceous under the microscope. 



While at Blowing Rock in August, 1922, we studied the group 

 carefully in the fresh condition, hoping to distinguish two species. 

 We first found that the taste varied from quite bitter to quite 

 mild in different collections ; next it was found that some lots cast 

 a pure white spore print while with others brought in the same day 

 the spore print was distinctly creamy yellow. Flattened members 

 of any lot were usually not hollow, while terete members were. 



