Phallus impudicus, and if it were not a geographical form it would hardly be 

 worth noting. From the specimens I have received it seems to be the only 

 form that occurs in the United States, and it is a rare form in Europe. 



HISTORY. When Schulzer found this plant in Hungary he noted the 

 secondary volva at the base of the stipe, and as this was not then noted in 

 Phallus impudicus he based on it a new genus and called the plant Kirchbaumia 

 imperialis. It is surprising how much easier it is to discover a "new species" 

 than a new fact about an old species. Kalchbrenner well illustrated the plant 

 under the name Phallus imperialis. Somebody sent Professor Peck some speci- 

 mens with accidental fragments of the volva adhering to the pileus, the same 

 as often occurs in all phalloids. He erected on them a new genus. Cryptophallus 

 albiceps. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. It is a much rarer plant in Europe 

 than the type form. Phallus impudicus. Professor Massee tells me, while the 

 latter is common in England, he has never seen the pink form but once. In 

 the United States it seems to be rare east of the Mississippi. Washington, D. C, 

 is the only station surely known to me, specimens collected by F. J. Braendle. 

 West of the Mississippi it is more common, and E. B. Sterling found it in 

 great abundance about Denver. I have it also from W. H. Long, Jr., Texas, 

 and L. G. Yates, Southern California. All these plants are the pink form, 

 called for convenience Phallus imperialis to distinguish it from the typical white 

 form, Phallus impudicus of Europe. 



PHALLUS RAVEXELII C Plate 115). A common species of 

 the genus Phallus, at least around Cincinnati, is Phallus Ravenelii. It 

 usually grows in the woods, sometimes on old logs, hut usually on the 

 ground around logs. The stipe is white, cylindrical, hollow, and com- 

 posed of large cells. The pileus is even or faintly reticulate, and by 

 this character alone it can he known from the other native species of 

 Phallus with white stipe." Under the pileus there is a short, mem- 

 branous veil as shown in our Plate 115, Fig. 3. It was overlooked. I 

 think, by Schweinitz, who evidently referred the plant to Phallus impudi- 

 cus. We have specimens from F. J. Fitzpatrick. Iowa, where the veil 

 is longer and protrudes below the pileus, but I think this rarely, if ever, 

 occurs in the form east of the Mississippi. 



DISTRIBUTION. It is spread over the United States from the Mississippi 

 Valley eastward, but is more frequent in southern localities. It is unknown from 

 the Pacific Coast or from foreign countries. 



HISTORY. Such a frequent plant must have come to Schweinitz's notice, 

 and he referred it, I think, to Phallus impudicus. Ravenel was the first to 

 closely note the plant and the peculiar short veil by which it is characterized, 

 and he sent specimens and very complete notes to Curtis, who transmitted them 

 to Berkeley. The latter named it Phallus Ravenelii. but he was so busy that 

 he could not take time to consider the details, and his "description" tells noth- 

 ing of the leading characters of the species. Professor Peck met the plant and, 

 being unable to identify it from Berkeley's description, wrote to Ravenel, who 

 sent his original notes, from which Peck had no trouble in recognizing his 

 specimens. He published a complete description of it and a characteristic 

 figure, and since the appearance of Peck's paper the plant has become generally 



o We have an alcoholic specimen of another Phallus from Florida which is much 

 smaller and has an even pileus but our data is so little we do not venture to 

 name it. 



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