XVIII. A NORTH AMERICAN ANTHURUS— ITS STRUCTURE AND DEVELOP- 

 MENT. 



By Edward A. Burt. 



XJAST September, toward the close of a prolonged rain, the writer had the good 

 fortune to find a member of this fine genus of the Phalloideae. The plant was growing 

 in a sandy cornfield on a hillside near East Gal way, New York. Gathering from the 

 literature at hand that some genera of this family have not been satisfactorily 

 investigated on account of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient material well preserved 

 for study, a careful search was made which yielded thirteen mature individuals and 

 several "eggs" in various stages of growth. This ample supply of material was 

 preserved in alcohol and has remained in very favorable condition for determining the 

 structural features and the development of the species. 



Gross Structure. 



The general aspect of a rather old specimen of the fungus, which will be referred 

 to throughout this article under the name of Anthurus borealis, sp. nov. (see diagnosis 

 at the close), is shown natural size in Fig. 1. A slender clavate stipe issues from a 

 volva, the torn apex of which is just at the surface of the ground. Both volva and 

 stipe are white, and the latter has a pitted surface. The stipe is somewhat contracted 

 above and then divides into six erect and narrowly lanceolate arms which bend in 

 together at their tips. Six seems to be the normal number of these arms, but in 

 some instances the sixth is only partially developed. The full height of the plant is 

 from 10 to 12 cm.; the length of the arms 11-2 to 2 cm.; the diameter of the stipe is 

 about 1 cm. below and 1 1-2 cm. at the broadest part above. 



The back of each arm is pale flesh-colored and has a small median farrow extending 

 its entire length. Toward the upper end of the arm the furrow is broader and very 

 shallow, lower down it becomes narrow and correspondingly deeper, and at the base of 

 the arm it widens abruptly, becomes very shallow, and disappears on the surface of the 

 stipe. The lateral and inner faces of the arms are covered by the brownish olive-green 



MEMOIRS BOSTON SOC. NAT. IIIST., VOL. IH. (4ST) 



