Clavarias of the United States and Canada 13 



simple, club-shaped species and did not further subdivide the 

 Clavarias. Persoon, in his Mycologia Europaea (1: 160. 1822), 

 recognized only the genus Clavaria and divided the species into 

 four groups: (a) branched or coral-like; (b) clubs elongated, 

 thickened, obsoletely branched; (c) simple, the club not divided; 

 fd) Typhulae: firm, furnished with a rather distinct and elong- 

 ated stem. [This included species now referred to Typhula and 

 Pistillaria] . 



In arranging the species of Clavoria, Fries introduced the sub- 

 headings that have been generally used since. They are (a) 

 Ramaria, branched species, which are subdivided into white- 

 spored and ochre-spored, placing C. flcwa and C. botrytis in the 

 white-spored group in error; (b) Syncoryne, simple, but bases 

 fasciculate, sub-connate, cespitose; (c) Holocoryne, simple, clav- 

 ate, bases discrete. 



Aside from extreme differences in size, texture, method of 

 branching and color, the spores of the Clavarias furnish by far the 

 most reliable characters in classification. Fortunately they show 

 a wide range in size, shape, surface and color and they often estab- 

 lish a species with certainty that would otherwise be obscurely de- 

 fined. The size of the basidia is roughly adjusted to that of the 

 spores and, except for the number and length of the sterigmata, 

 which is often of use, they help but little if the spores are known. 

 In our study of the hymenium we have come across the important 

 fact, heretofore unknown, that in some species there is a renewal 

 of the hymenium by periodic growth so that a younger hymenium 

 is superimposed as a new layer over the old one, resulting in two 

 or more layers of basidia, as in many polypores. This is well 

 shown in C. grandis (pi. 90, fig. 1), C. stricta, C. apiculata, C. 

 abietina and its relatives, C. decurrens, C. subdecurrens (pi. 89, 

 fig. 1 ) , etc. Most species with this habit are otherwise remarkable 

 in having in the multiple hymenium vast numbers of included 

 spores which were retained and overgrown instead of being shed. 

 These spores are often arranged in rows, thus clearly indicating 

 the number of hymenial layers laid down. This is particularly 

 true of the first three species mentioned; in the others the spores 

 are usually more evenly scattered, showing more irregular prolifer- 

 ation. The structure of the flesh is not in any way remarkable 

 among fungi, and while the size and arrangement of the compo- 



