38 Annual Effort of the State Botanist. 



Polyporus cinnabarinus, Jacq. 



The usual habitat of this fungus is wood of deciduous trees, but it 

 occasionally occurs on hemlock, Abies Canadensis. 



Polyporus abietinus, Fr. va7\ irpiciformis n. var. 



Kesupinate, at first orbicular, then often confluent in irregular 

 patches, thin, the margin fimbriate, whitish; hymenium pallid, com- 

 posed of radiating lamellae gashed into subulate or fimbriate irpici- 

 form aculei. 



Bark of balsam, Abies balsamea. North Elba. Sept. 



Some fungi belonging to the Polyporei are very variable and break 

 over the generic limits, assigned them. The 8j)ecies now under con- 

 sideration apparently occurs in four well-marked forms, two pileate 

 and two resupinate, one of each belonging to the genus Polyporus, or, 

 as some classify it, to Polystictus, and one of each to Irpex, and there- 

 fore to the distinct order Hydnei. 



The typical pileate form is very common in the Adirondack forests 

 growing on trunks and branches of spruce, balsam, larch and some- 

 times on pine and hemlock. A resupinate form is also common. The 

 form known as Irj^ex fuscoviolaceus, which is regarded by some myco- 

 logists as belonging to this species, is much more rare and has been 

 observed by me on spruce only. But I have found it growing on the 

 same trunk and in company with P. abietinus, and so closely resem- 

 bling it in all respects save in the hymenium that it is difficult to 

 believe it a distant species. The hymenium is similar in color to that 

 of P. abietinus, but it is composed of radiating lamellae (as in Lenzites), 

 which are incised so as to form teeth or aculei as in Irpex. The dis- 

 covery of the resui^inate variety, now described as var. irpiciformis, 

 strengthens the belief in the si^ecific unity of /rpej: fuscoviolaceus 

 and Polyporus abietinus, for here again we have the radiating lamellae 

 incised into irpiciform teeth, thus showing the structure of the hyme- 

 nium to be the same as in /. fuscoviolaceus, and besides this, we have 

 a variation in color corresponding to that which occurs in the hyme- 

 nium of P. abietinus. For in the resupinate form of P. abietinus the 

 color of the hymenium, even in young and growing specimens is often 

 much paler than in the typical pileate form, exhibiting scarcely a 

 trace of violaceous color, but showing rather a pallid hue with a slight 

 suggestion of pale cinnamon. This peculiar color is seen in variety 

 irpiciformis and enforces the conclusion that it is not a distinct species 

 of Irpex but rather a mere variety of P. abietinus. It indicates a very 

 intimate connection between Lenzites among the Agaricini, Polyporus 



