138 Clavarias of the United States and Canada 



ferent color from the hymenium, a fact that can be easily seen 

 where the spores gather in the angle of the branches. Basidia 

 4-spored, 8-1 1|/. thick, projecting about 13pt. beyond the surface; 

 sterigmata about 7\k long, straight. 



The structure of the flesh is the most peculiar character of the 

 plant. With the exception of a thin surface layer it is from base 

 to very top, and at all ages (except extreme youth), a clear, trans- 

 parent, but cohesive and toughish jelly, with almost exactly the 

 appearance and texture of table gelatine. It is composed of 

 slender, little branched threads about 2-4. 5 [jt thick, which run 

 openly through the transparent jelly (fig. 10). This peculiar 

 quality of the flesh can be detected without cutting by the soft but 

 elastic feel of the plant. The color of the flesh is the same as the 

 surface at all points. In very dry weather the flesh loses its 

 peculiar appearance in part but a longitudinal section of the base 

 will always show some transparency. As a result of its texture 

 the plant dries out very slowly, taking several times as long as any 

 other species. 



There seems to be no reference to gelatinous flesh in the de- 

 scription of any Clavaria, but we have noticed a slight tendency in 

 this direction in C. botrytis, as indicated by a mottled transparency 

 in the flesh of the stem and larger branches. 



This species seems nearest C. formosa, and in dry weather, 

 when the flesh has largely lost its peculiar transparency, certain 

 forms of the two might easily be confused from the somewhat 

 similar color and form ; but the spores, while of about the same sur- 

 face and width, are distinctly shorter than those of C. formosa. 

 In the dry state C. gclatinosa is darker and much harder than C. 

 formosa and there is at times present in the flesh, especially to- 

 wards the base, a central core or plate of very hard, black tissue 

 like horn. This tissue is formed from the gelatinous flesh 

 and its formation is probably dependent on the rapidity of dry- 

 ing. It is usually seen in the stem as thin plates here and there. 

 Mature plants of C. subspinulosa are about the same color, but 

 that species is very different in other ways. 



This is the plant that Schweinitz referred to C. grisea Pers. as 

 is shown by a collection in his herbarium with identical appearance 

 and spores and with the horny, black internal tissue unusually 



