[Vol. 2 



698 



ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



even hymenium to P. lacteus. Romell, 1 after a short descrip- 

 tion of P. lacteus as he understands it, says : 



a 



This species seems to be identical with one known in 



America as Polyporus chioneus My specimens agree 



with the authentic specimens of P. lacteus at Kew. In Fries' 

 herbarium neither P. lacteus nor P. chioneus is represented by 

 authentic specimens as far as I know. There is, however, a col- 

 lection referred to P. chioneus by Robert Fries, and this collec- 

 tion differs from my plant not only by the glabrous surface of 

 the pileus but also by having the hyphae substantially parallel 

 and simple " (Italics are the writer's.) 



It is unfortunate if, with 

 the easy access to Fries' de- 

 scription, American mycol- 

 ogists of repute have sent 

 specimens of a pubescent 

 Polyporus to Europe under 

 the name, P. chioneus. On 



the other hand, if the de- 

 termination were that of an 

 amateur it should not have 

 been seriously considered 



by Mr. Romell. Whichever 

 may have been the case, it 

 is the writer's opinion that 



such determinations are the 

 exceptional ones and not the rule, for the plant that is usually 



referred to P. chioneus (including P. albellus) is usually, if not 

 always, entirely glabrous and has even tube mouths. In fact, 

 it is the writer's opinion that P. lacteus and P. chioneus have 

 been less confused in this country than in Europe. If there 

 has been a tendency to confuse P. lacteus with anything it is 

 with P. galactinus, as I have found several collections so mis- 

 determined. The important point of the extract from Romell 's 

 paper is, however, that the collection to which reference is 

 there made as having a glabrous pileus and simple hyphae in 

 the context, in all probability represents the species that is in- 

 terpreted in this paper as P. albellus. 



the distinguishing characters of P. 



Fig. 3. Hyphae of P. chioneus. 



Having fixed 



& ~^~ upon _ __ & __ & 



1 Hym. Lapp. p. 15. 



