[Vol. 6 

 254 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



arable at maturity from the basidia which produce them are 

 not known elsewhere in Basidiomycetes, so far as I am aware. 

 JuePs material for cytological study proved to be the hymenium 

 of a Porta infested by two species of Tulasnella. For the 

 present, it seems less confusing in a taxonomic paper to refer to 

 the spore-shaped organs permanently attached to the basidia 

 in species of Tulasnella as sterigmata. 



The specimens of Tulasnella which I have seen in vegetative 

 condition were slightly colored in such colors as livid pink, 

 dull lavender, and ecru-drab of Ridgway; specimens of all 

 species fade to pale olive-gray in the herbarium. The spores 

 were colored in the mass like the fructifications from which 

 they were obtained in the cases where I secured spore falls on 

 glass from specimens of my collection, but are hyaline under 

 high magnification with the microscope. The fructifications 

 are not adnate, as this term is applied to Peniophora cinerea, 

 but merely very thin and tender, for when they are moistened 

 small portions sufficiently large for crushing under a cover glass 

 may be lifted clean from the substratum with the point of a 

 scalpel. Such portions spread out well under the cover glass 

 upon application of pressure and are very satisfactory for 

 observation of the spores and sterigmata. 



The species of Tulasnella are so similar in aspect that one has 

 to rely upon microscopic details — chiefly of the spores and 

 sterigmata — for recognition of the species. Nineteen species 

 of Tulasnella are listed for Europe, but upon such slight dif- 

 ferences in dimensions of the spores that it seems probable 

 that the number will be materially reduced when a revision 

 can be made upon the basis of first-hand knowledge of these 

 species. 



Tulasnella has been collected in North America in northern 

 United States and Canada only; these gatherings are arranged 

 in three species. 



Key to the Species 



Spores subglobose, 3^-6X3Hl m 1. T. Eichleriana 



Spores subglobose, 5-9X4|-6 m 2. T. violea 



Spores more elongated, 10-15X3-5 y. 5. T . fusco-violacea 



