1920 \ The Lower Basidiomycetes of North Carolina 123 



o'uttulate, 7-8 x 15/^, coiiidia ovoid, 7 x VZ/x. Oh decaying wood in 

 Equatoria. It may i)e onr P. Lagerstrooxiae, but there are discrep- 

 ancies. For P. effnsa see Trans. Brit. :\Iyc. Soe. 6 :138. 1918. 



Key to the Species 



Plants pulviiiatc, not fusing into crust-like masses, ster- 

 ile threads (paraphyses) absent in the hymenium P. carol in ianit (1) 



Plants nodulose-erustose, sterile threads present in the 



hymenium P. Lac/crstroemiae (2) 



1. Platygloea caroliniana n. sjx* 



Plate 54 



Gregarious but not crowded, forning pulvinate, flattened patches 

 0.5-2.5 mm. broad and 0.5-1.5 iinn. high, dull smoky flesh-color until 

 old, then more sordid and less pink. Surface dull, granular-looking, 

 convex when fresh, even in small plants, convoluted in larger ones, in 

 age becoming flattened by collapse. Texture firmly waxy throughout. 



Spores (of No. 4199) sub-oval, smooth, not white, apparently yel- 

 lowish or pinkish-yellow on a light spore print on a slide, 4-7 x 5-9,u, 

 not divided. They sprout at or near one end to form smaller, sec- 

 ondary spores (sporidia) of more narrow and irregular shape, mostly 

 pip-shaped, but soon becoming irregular or curved by sprouting. Ba- 

 sidia in dense groups of about 8-10, borne in a close corymb, 5.2-6.5 x 

 15-20/x, swollen, two-celled or some at least with a third, stalk-like 

 cell, each cell si)i outing by a rather long or a short sterigma parallel to 

 the long axis of tlie basidium as in Auricularia. 



Threads of the flesh not crowded, branching at ojien angles about 

 2-8.7/A thick, the cross walls usually about 55-100/ii apart, but variable, 

 no clamp connections, branching near the surface in a densely corym- 

 bose manner and terminating in the clusters of basidia. The plants have 

 exactly the appearance of a small Daerymyces, but the texture is 

 wax}', not gelatinous. There is no discernible root entering the wood. 



This caiuiot belong to the genus Jola of Miiller, as that has basidia 

 whieli do not arise in dense groujis and wiiieh usually arise from a 

 swollen stalk cell. The spores ai'c ver\" mirrow, elongated, aiul curved 

 (in ./. IIoohcridiKi, ()x28-3()/a; in ./. javnisis .3-4 x 15-2()/j/). More- 

 over, of three species of .lola deseribed all are parasitic on mosses. 



* .Just before Eniiii; I" press a letter ccinies frotn I'iitduilliinl. vvlm says: "/'. nnolini- 

 nna is very different from lli-tivtiiilitrv [.ai/rrhfiiin and is easily a irood si)ecies." 



