TRICHIA 285 



Allied to T. contorta, from which it is distinguished by the translucent 

 wall free from granular deposits. 



Meylan distinguishes the yellow forms as var. auronitens. Hemi- 

 trichia obrussea Meylan is regarded by Miss Lister as "clearly only 

 an abnormal form" of this species. Meylan, in his 1931 paper, thinks 

 it is close only to the var. auronitens and that the latter is worthy of 

 specific recognition. Examination of a specimen sent by Dr. Meylan 

 shows it to be a hemitrichia, with only a few free ends, and appar- 

 ently normal. A small and incompletely matured collection from 

 Colorado seems to be the typical form and is our only American record. 



Colorado; Europe. 



8. Trichia varia Pers. 



Roemer N. Mag. Bot. 1 : 90. 1794. 

 PL XIX, Figs. 499, 500, 501. 



1791. Stemonitis varia Pers., in Gmel., Syst. Nat. 2 : 1470. 



1796. Trichia olivacea Pers., Obs. Myc. 1 : 62. 



1799. Trichia cor data Pers., Obs. Myc. 2 : 33. 



1799. Trichia cylindrica Pers., Obs. Myc. 2 : 33. 



1799. Trichia pyriformis Pers., Obs. Myc. 2 : 33. 



1801. Trichia nigripes Pers., Syn. Meth. Fung. 178. 



1838. Trichia craterioides Corda, Icon. 2 : 21, pi. 12, fig. 85. 



1893. Trichia aculeata Cel. fil., Myx. Bohm. 34. 



Sporangia gregarious or sometimes closely crowded, globose, obovoid, 

 or irregularly globoid, yellowish or ochraceous, shining, sessile, or 

 rarely with a short black stipe; hypothallus inconspicuous; capillitium 

 of rather long, simple or more rarely branched elaters, 4-5 ix wide, 

 marked by two irregular spirals, prominent and narrow and in places 

 remote, the apices acute, about twice the elater diameter; spore-mass 

 yellow; spores by transmitted light dull yellow, delicately verruculose, 

 guttulate, 12-14 ju. Plasmodium white. 



A very common species, very variable in form, stipitate forms occur- 

 ring occasionally beside those which are irregular and sessile. Accord- 

 ing to Rostafinski the stipitate phase constitutes T. nigripes of Per- 

 soon and other authors. The capillitium is, however, characteristic 

 throughout. The two spiral bands wind loosely and irregularly and 

 present an elater unlike anything else in the group except the same 

 structure in T. contorta, but here the elater is narrow and the sculpture 

 obscure. Since the specific distinctions are purely microscopic, the 

 synonymy beyond Rostafinski is mainly conjectural. It is possible 

 that Fries properly applied the name. 



Common. Maine to Washington, Oregon and California, and 



