296 NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN. 



rupture, leaving the margin notched, involute, clothed exter- 

 nally with minute black hairs; asci very long, cylindrical, 

 8-spored; sporidia oblong hyaline, granular within, 25 to 30 

 by 10 microns, paraph yses slender septate. 



Habitat — On half-buried branches and sticks in woods; 

 spring; Iowa City. 



A large species common on decaying sticks in woods in the 

 spring. A number of plants may often be found attached to 

 a small stick. They are at first club-shaped, black structures, 

 hollow in the center, finally opening by a star-shaped rupture 

 at the apex, when mature, leaving the margin notched. In 

 Engler-Prantl, this species is included with the subgenus Geo- 

 pyxis. There is some difference of opinion as to whether this 

 plant should be included with that genus or allowed to remain 

 where it is (Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, 29, p. 137.) 



