[Vor. 5 
130 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 
On bare earth, wood and bark lying on the ground, and on 
living stems of potatoes, beans, rhubarb, horseradish, toma- 
toes, Amaranthus, etc., at or near the ground. New Bruns- 
wiek to Florida and westward to Vaneouver and Washing- 
ton, in West Indies, Europe, India, and Australia. Common. 
Corticium vagum differs from C. koleroga and C. Stevensii 
in having its mycelium and sclerotia subterranean when par- 
asitic, in having its fructifications at the surface of the ground 
or merely sheathing small herbaceous stems for only a few 
centimeters up from the ground and never spreading out on 
the under side of broad leaves at a considerable distance 
above ground, by having larger hyphae, larger basidia, and 
the basidia with larger sterigmata which are more thickened 
in the lower portion and sometimes six to a basidium; the 
spores are somewhat larger in C. vagum also. The examina- 
tion of the large amount of C. vagum which has come to hand 
does not afford ground for regarding the collar-like fructifica- 
tions on small living herbaceous stems as worthy of varietal 
separation. As common as this species now is in the United 
States, it is rather surprising that a collection of it under 
some name has not been found in Herb. Schweinitz. 
Specimens examined: 
Exsiecati: Ellis, N. Am. Fungi, 330; Ravenel, Fungi Am., 
132, 577—the latter under the name Zygodesmus pannosus. 
Sweden: Stockholm, L. Romell, 204. 
Russian Poland: Eichler, comm. by Bresadola, portion of 
type of Corticium botryosum Bres. 
New Brunswick: Campobello, W. G. Farlow, 3. 
Canada: J. Macoun, 2, 84, 340. 
Ontario: Ottawa, J. Macoun, 327. 
Massachusetts: Brookline, G. R. Lyman, 180; Magnolia, W. G. 
Farlow. 
New York: Albany, Н. D. House € J. Rubinger (in Mo. Bot. 
Gard. Herb., 8734); East Galway, E. A. Burt, two collec- 
tions; Ithaca, Van Hook, comm. by G. F. Atkinson, 8092; 
Karner, H. D. House, 14.162, and three other collections 
(in N. Y. State Herb. and Mo. Bot. Gard. Herb., 44709, 
