24 The North American Cup-Fungi 



1. Geoglossum glabrum Pers. Neues Mag. Bot. 1: 116. 1794. 



?Clavaria ophioglossoides L. Sp. PI. 2: 1182. 1753. 

 Geoglossum sphagnophilum Ehrb. Sylv. Myc. Ber. 30. 1818. 

 Geoglossum difforme sensu Cooke, Mycographia 6, pi. 2,f. 7. 1875. 

 Geoglossum simile Peck, Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. Sci. 1: 70. 1873. 



Ascophores solitary, or rarely clustered, gregarious, 3-7 cm. 

 high; ascigerous portion black, about one-third the total length 

 of the ascophore, lanceolate, compressed, 1-3 cm. long, 3-8 mm. 

 thick, obtuse or acute, not sharply delimited from the stem; 

 stem terete or slightly compressed, brownish-black, rather 

 slender, densely squamulose, 2-5 cm. high, 1.5-5 mm. thick, but 

 commonh' about 2 mm., the tissue composed of a fascicle of 

 parallel, septate, brown hyphae 10-12 n in diameter, those in the 

 center of the ascigerous part loose, those on the surface of the 

 stem projecting to form flexuous, septate hairs up to 100 ju long, 

 single or agglutinated into groups; asci rather stout, clavate- 

 lanceolate, apex narrowed but rounded, pore blue with iodine, 

 short-stipitate, reaching a length of 170-200 ^ and a diameter of 

 20-22 )U, 8-spored; spores in parallel fascicle in the ascus, clavate, 

 dark-fuliginous, 7-septate, usually slightly curved, 7-9 X 60-105 jx 

 (the majority 75-95) ; paraphyses slightly longer than the asci, 

 typically clavate in the distal third, closely septated into cells 

 rarely more than twice as long as broad, usually constricted at 

 the septa and the cells often swollen so as to give a moniliform 

 appearance, brown above, straight, or curved, about 3 ju thick 

 below, 5-9 fx thick above. 



On very rotten wood, logs, stumps, or rich humus, rarely on 

 soil. 



Type locality: Europe. 



Distribution: Newfoundland to Florida and California; 

 also in Europe. 



Illustrations: Cooke, Mycographia pi. 2,f. 7 ; Gill. Champ. 

 Fr. Discom. pi. 24, f. 3; Rab. Krypt.-Fl. V: 1145,/. 1-4; Ann. 

 Bot. 11: pi. 12, f. 44-46; Bond. Ic. Myc. pi. 423; Ann. Myc. 6: 

 pi. 7, J. 50-56; pi. 12, f. 121-129. 



2. Geoglossum nigritum (Pers.) Cooke, Mycographia 205. 1878. 



Clavaria nigrita Pers. Syn. Fung. 604. 1801. 



Ascophores usually solitary, clavate, black, or brownish- 

 black, up to 8 cm. high ; ascigerous portion lanceolate, compressed, 



