Clavarias of the United States and Canada 153 



irregularly branched and rebranched 3 or 4 times, the ultimate tips 

 fine, short and a little divaricating; rather dense; color of main 

 body when quite fresh a delicate, very pale rosy pink or fleshy 

 tan, becoming brownish when bruised; the tips shading gradually 

 to whitish cream ; after maturity darkening to about leather color 

 (avellaneous to wood-brown) in main region, the tips unchanging 

 or becoming very faintly tinted with green ; no sterile plush-like 

 areas among the branches, except in some of the angles (or such 

 sterile lines present in some of the New York plants). Flesh 

 quite tough and pliable, easily bending on self without breaking; 

 taste slight, faintly woody ; odor slight, reminding one of a sewing 

 machine. (No odor to be noticed in plants from Vaughns, 

 N. Y.) 



Spores long, narrow, sway-backed, cream or faintly brown in a 

 good print, narrowed toward the proximal end, (of No. 4395) 

 3.7 x 12-13. 7\l. Basidia clavate, 4-spored, 7A\x thick; hymenium 

 40-50[x thick, deep yellow in section ; hyphae of flesh loosely packed, 

 septate, with clamp connections, 4-5 jx thick. 



Growing on twigs and leaves or fragments of rotting wood of 

 beech or less often of maple, and probably under oak also ; some- 

 times on these and white pine leaves mixed ; often appearing in a 

 row on twigs and bound together by rhizomorphic strands. 



When quite fresh the bruised surface and cut flesh turn brown 

 rather quickly. After standing in dry air a little while some of 

 the minute tips turn deep reddish brown for about 1 mm. or less. 

 When growing on leaves the plants spring immediately from a 

 dense, flat, white pad about 5-13 mm. wide on top of the leaf. This 

 pad is connected beneath to the byssoid strands between the leaves, 

 which are characteristic of the species. In older plants even the 

 tips may become tinted with leather color. At times several stems 

 may be compounded and fused to make a denser mass. 



Since Fries's time this species has not been well understood. 

 It has often been confused with C. crispula and is very rarely met 

 with in herbaria. What may be considered the type is repre- 

 sented in Persoon's herbarium by some mycelium and a few, 

 minute prongs, the larger parts having been broken away. There 

 is nothing in its appearance to exclude our C. byssiseda, but no 

 spores were found. Except for the tips being frequently greenish 

 our plants agree perfectly with Persoon's description and figure; 



