356 



Mycological Bulletin No. SI 



[Vol. V. 



which they are referring to a given species are very different from the 

 plants which others are referring to the same species. Moreover, assnm- 

 ing that the species is common and well known, no field notes are con- 

 sidered necessary. As a result much confusion has arisen in our con- 

 ception of these species. Occasionally mycologists, who have received 

 specimens from all parts of the country, have noted that certain species 

 present remarkable variations, but as the material thus received is usually 

 fragmentary, without suitable notes, and is received only at rare inter- 

 vals, they have generally contented themselves with noting that the form 

 is an unusual one. 



"In the extensive collections of the New York Botanical Garden, 

 brought together from very many different sources, the confusion in 

 species is very evident. This is conspicuously seen in the forms referred 

 to Hydmim inibricatum L. and H. zonatiim Batsch. As to the former 

 f-pecies, nearly everything with a scaly pileus has been referred to it, 

 while the latter has been made to include almost everything with a zonate 

 pileus. 



"While herbarium specimens often clearly show that they represent 

 distinct species, so great is the change that these plants undergo in the 

 process of drying that one rarely feels justified in attempting a descrip- 

 tion of new species from such material without satisfactory field notes. 

 On the other hand, the securing of fresh material or at least of ample and 

 accurate field notes is a difficult and discouraging task. During six years 

 of careful watching for specimens of the H. i)iibricatiiiii allies, it has been 

 the writer's fortune to find but two of the scaly-capped forms in the field ; 

 likewise but one of the forms commonly referred to H. zonatum, has come 

 within his observation. Of more than forty .specimens found in the her- 



Fig. 264. 'I'lic tul)es forniin^; the fiiiiting surf:ici' 

 considerably niagnificd as .shown by tlic niilliinctcr scale. 



(if i'lS-ni-l.l'-NA iif.-pat'-i-ca. 

 Sec l'"igs. 2C2 and 263. 



