TRICHIA 291 



17. Trichia decipiens (Pers.) Macbr. 



N. A. Slime-Moulds 218. 1899. 

 PI. XIX, Figs. 519, 520. 



1793. Lycoperdon pusillum Hedwig, Abh. 1 : 35, pi. 3, fig. 2, non Batsch. 



1795. Arcyria decipiens Pers., Ust. Ann. Bot. 15 : 35. 



1796. Trichia fallax Pers., Obs. Myc. 1 : 59. 



1803. Trichia virescens Schum., Enum. PI. Saell. 2 : 208. 



1814. Trichia cerina Ditm., in Sturm, Deutsch. Fl. Pilze 2 : 51, pi. 25. 



1821. Trichia fulva Purt., Midi. Fl. 3 : 290. 



1886. Trichia nana Zukal, Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 35 : 334, pi. 15, 



fig. 8. 

 1907. Trichia stuhlmanni Eichelbaum, Verh. Nat. Ver. Hamb. Ill, 14 : 32. 



1907. 



Sporangia gregarious, sometimes closely so, sometimes scattered, 

 turbinate, shining olive or olivaceous brown, stipitate; stipe generally 

 elongate, concolorous above, dark brown below, hollow, filled with 

 spore-like cells; capillitial mass yellowish or olivaceous yellow, the 

 elaters perfectly smooth, long-fusiform, tapering gradually to the long, 

 slender apices, simple or often branched, adorned with three to five 

 spirals, which wind evenly but somewhat distantly; spore-mass oliva- 

 ceous or ochraceous; spores under the lens pale, delicately reticulate 

 over most of the surface, 10-13 fx. 



One of our largest and most common species, in form and size re- 

 sembling Hemitrichia clavata, but immediately distinguished by its 

 color. The capillitium is like that of T. botrytis, but differs in the 

 more open sculpture and the longer and smoother unwound tips. The 

 episporic net is a constant character in all the specimens examined. 

 This feature suggests T. scabra. 



This is, of course, the familiar T. fallax of all authors from Persoon 

 down. The earliest unmistakable reference to this species is by Hedwig. 

 But Batsch, in 1789, had used the same combination to describe a real 

 puff-ball, so that Hedwig's name was already a synonym. The specific 

 name here adopted is next in point of priority, although Persoon dis- 

 carded it the year following, substituting fallax, because he had mis- 

 taken the genus. 



Several varieties and forms have been described, none of which 

 appear in our American collections. See Lister, 1925, p. 212, and 

 Brandza, 1929, p. 280. 



Not rare. Nova Scotia, New England, Ontario, west to the Black 

 Hills and Washington, Oregon, California, south to the Carolinas and 

 Kansas, Mexico; Europe, Ceylon. 



