A NEW BROOMEIA. 



The genus Broomeia has heretofore been known from a single 

 species, Broomeia congregata, from South Africa. An account was 

 given of it in Mycological Notes, page 193 and Plate 21. As the initial 

 work was well done by Berkeley and a goad iEustration published, the 

 plant is fortunate in escaping all synonyms. Recently another species 

 has been published by Dr. v. Hohnel of Vienna. It came also from 

 South Africa. The external appearance of the two plants is the same, 

 and when Dr. v. Hohnel sent me a photograph of his new species I 

 was disposed to think it would prove to be a slight form. I wrote 

 for some gleba, and find that the spores are strongly different, hence 



Fig. 249. 

 Broomeia ellipsospora, natural size. A, spores. B, spores of B. congregata. 



I consider it a good species. Broomeia congregata (Fig. B) has 

 globose, strongly reticulate-echinulate spores. Broomeia ellipsospora 

 (Fig. A), as Dr. v. Hohnel calls it, has sinootli, elliptical spores. The 

 figure herewith (kindly made by A. D. Cotton) shows the spores in 

 contrast. The photograph of the plant was sent by Dr. v. Hohnel. 



A NEW GENUS, CYANOSPORUS. 



BY N. J. McGiNTY. 



The common species" called Polyporus caesius by Fries, was put 

 in the section Anodermei Carnosi. This section was discovered to be 

 a new genus by Karsten, and characterized as having white (or 

 whitish-yellow) spores and other characters (copied from Fries). He 

 was followed by our distinguished American specialist, Mr. Murrill. 

 The celebrated French genus-discoverer, Monsieur Quelet, also dis- 

 covered this same section to be a new genus and named it Leptopo- 

 rus. But Cyanosporus caesius does not have "white or whitish- 

 yellow spores." They are blue in mass, and hence can not, by any 

 process of reasoning adopted by our modern polyporoid experts, be 

 included in the same genus. In fact, it is the rule now generally 

 adopted by my co-workers to make the color of the spores the pri- 

 mary division of the polyporoids, the same as Fries did for the 

 Agarics. I hence have discovered that Polyporus caesius (Schraeder) 

 Fries, forms a new genus, Cyanosporus, characterized by having 

 bluish spores (and other characters as specified by Fries under Ano- 

 dermei Carnosi), and I have named the plant Cyanosporus caesius 

 (Schraeder) McGinty. 



436 



