1922] Fruiting Stage of Tuckahoe, Paciiyma Cocos 129 



that of Gore (7). This account includes also the results of chemical 

 analyses of the tuckahoe which, in confirmation of the earlier work 

 of Torrey (17), shows that it is largely composed of pectic com- 

 pounds. Torrey, however, employed the name "sclerotin" which 

 was subsequently found to be identical with the jelly-forming con- 

 stituents of fruits and tubers to which Braconnot- applied the name 

 ' ' pectous substances. ' '^ 



Distribution 



The tuckahoe is reported to occur from New Jersey southward 

 to the Gulf of Mexico, Avestward to Texas, and as far north as Kan- 

 sas, in light loamy or sandy soil. Whether or not the data on dis- 

 tribution of tuckahoe in the accounts of Banning (2), Ravenel (13), 

 Lockwood, (10) Gore, (7), Schrenck (14) and in a recent bulletin 

 from the Missouri Botanical Garden (1) apply to Pachmya Cocos 

 alone or include closely related species cannot now be determined. 

 It is my belief, as will be discussed later, that Pachmya Cocos is 

 parasitic and is associated only with the roots of pines. However, 

 Lockwood (10) records finding tuckahoe among the roots of willow 

 oak, Quercus phellos, in New Jersey. Further, specimens in the 

 herbarium of Bresadola under the name " Pachma Cocos Fr. = My- 

 litta pinetorum Horaninow, " show sclerotia which are very different 

 from the form under discussion since they are very heavy and in 

 section look like mottled amber.^ Manifestly, in the absence of wide- 

 spread knowledge of the identity of Pachyma Cocos, and of definite 

 information of its host relationship together with confusion of names 

 in herbarium collections, satisfactory information on distribution is 

 not available. 



Description of Sclerotia 



The tuber-like structures to which Fries (6) gave the name 

 Pachmya Cocos were described by him as "oblong to elliptical in 

 shape with hard scaly bark and with a brown and woody appear- 

 ance, about the size of a man's head, exactly resembling a cocoanut; 



2 Ann. Chim. phys. 25: 358-373. 1824. 



* A transcript from Berkeley and Curtis' manuscript which accompanies their specimens 

 of tuckahoe was given me by Dr. W. C. Coker. These notes inchide chemical studies by 

 Prof. EUet of South Carolina Collese who states that, "Twenty years ago I examined a 

 specimen of it from Virginia. I have repeatedly worked with Carolina specimens of the 

 substance and find them all identical in their nature. It consists entirely of pectic acid 

 or rather the pectin of Braconnot." 



■* From notes made during the summer of 1921 by Dr. W. C. Coker. 



