202 Seaver : North American Hitocreales 



lected In good condition are nearly smooth but become more or 



less rouMiened with agje. 



suffi 



cient to have led to some confusion. The perithecia at maturity, 

 especially when dry, almost invariably collapse from the top, be- 

 coming cup-shaped and in this condition very much resemble a 

 Peziza, which fact has doubtless suggested the specific name. 



I 



This latter character has been the cause of considerable confusion. 

 Most of the American specimens examined by Mr." Ellis have 

 been referred by him to Nectria vulpbia (Cooke) Ellis & Everh., 

 while most ot the foreign specimens examined by the writer 'have 

 been referred by various authors to Nectna Peziza (Tode) Fries, 

 but notwithstanding this fact close study of American arid foreign 

 material fails to reveal any difference* Nectria vulpina (Cooke) 

 Ellis & Everh. was based on material collected at Newfield, New 

 Jersey, and was first described by Mr. Cooke as a Peziza^ a mis- 

 take which is likely to be made on account of the close resem- 

 blance of these plants to some of the cup-fungi. The species was 

 later transferred to the genus Dialonectria by Mr. Cooke and still 

 later to the genus Nectria by Saccardo, and still retained as a dis- 

 tinct species, although there was no reliable character by which 

 it could be distinguished from the commonly recognized species 

 Nectria Peziza (Tode) Fries. A specimen in the Ellis collection 

 which is evidently cotype material of Nectria vulpina (Cooke) 

 Ellis & Everh. has been closely studied with the hope of dis- 

 covering some character by which it might be distinguished from 

 Nectria Peziza (Tode) Fries, but except for a very slight variation 

 in the size of the spores this is a typical specimen of the latter 



species, as are the other specimens in the same collection referred 

 to this name, 



Nectria betulina, which was described from American material, 

 seems to be a form of the present species which occurs in cracks 

 and crevices of bark, and, the perithecia becoming crowded, pre- 

 sents the appearance of a stromatic form. The perithecia and 



■ 



spores are typical of Nectria Peziza (Tode) Fries and I am unable 

 to separate it from that species. Nectria Hmincola Cooke is a 

 similar form. I give below a complete synonymy and description 

 of Nectria Peziza (Tode) Fries, based on our own study : 



