HISTORY. This is a most abundant plant in this country and is widely 

 distributed in the world. We have specimens in our collection from Hawaii, 

 Samoa, Barbados, Bahamas, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Ecuador, New 

 Caledonia, Tasmania, Australia, India, two from Europe and many from the 

 United States. The tropical forms are usually more lobed, but we think really 

 the same species. It grows in Europe but, strange to say, there it is relatively 

 an infrequent plant. From the books I judge it is most common in the " Midi " of 

 France In Stevenson there is a discussion as to whether it is really a native of 

 England or introduced. I never found it in the three seasons that I collected in 

 Europe and I have it from only two of my European correspondents, viz: Rev. L/. 

 Badet, Italy and E. WulfF, Crimea. It was very happily named by Fries, the 

 generic name referring to the split gills and the specific name to its common 

 occurrence in many countries. There was a legend that it was Agaricus alneus 

 of Linnseus and some priorists call it Schizophyllum alneum. It is a foolish 

 change to make if it were true 4 because it is the most common species we have, 

 and does not grow on alder once out of a dozen times, and occurs in thousands of 

 locations and many countries where alder does not grow. 



PHYSALACRIA INFLATA (Figs. 216, 217, and 218.) This 

 little fungus grows in tufts, on logs and sticks, but is not common, 

 and I think is of northern distribution only. I have collected it in 

 Michigan and Vermont, but I never found it around Cincinnati. I 

 have specimens also from Professor Burt. It consists of little, un- 

 even, globose, hollow, fleshy heads, about 3 to 4 mm. in diameter, 

 supported on slender pedicels from 6 to 10 mm. long. The pedicels 

 appear pruinose under a hand glass, caused by a number of micro- 

 scopic, glandular hairs. The hymenium surrounds the globose head, 

 and consists of fusoid, crested cystidia and numerous clavate basidia. 5 

 The spores are hyaline, elliptical, smooth, 3x5 mic. The color is 

 white, discoloring somewhat when old. Sometimes the heads are 

 closely crowded together and somewhat confluent, the pedicels short- 

 ened, and in this condition it has the general appearance of a white 

 Tremella. 



HISTORY. Schweinitz sent the plant to Fries under the manuscript name 

 I,eotia inflata, but Fries placed it in the genus Mitrula. The genus Mitrula as now 

 understood has spores in asci, but in those days was based on the shape of the 

 fungus. Schweinitz listed it (N. A. Fungi No. 1068) as Mitrula inflata, but there 

 is no specimen in his herbarium. Cooke (Mycographia T. 344) puts it in the 

 genus Spathularia, and gives a very inaccurately drawn and colored figure that 

 might represent an imaginary Spathularia, but does not at all represent the 

 fungus. He was unable to find "fruit" and considered that his specimens were 



4 This is so obviously only a date dictionary juggle that I do not feel it is worth the trouble 

 to look it up or disprove it. I suspect if the matter could be sifted it would probably be found 

 what Linnzeus called Agaricus alneus, was Trogia crispa. He claims to have found it in 

 Sweden, but he was far more likely to have found Trogia crispa than Schizophyllum commune 

 .in Sweden. To be sure he says the gills were " bifid " which is the only clue to the identity o f 

 :his plant, but he was just as apt to have meant that they were dichotomous as that the edges 

 were split. There is no question as to Agaricus alneus of Bulliard, but it is farcical to write 

 "Liniiitus " after the specific name on any printed evidence that exists. 



e are not expert enough with the microscope to assure ourselves of the nature of the 

 s clavate bodies we found to compose the hymenium. We could readily make out 



5 We 



numerous 



numerous large, crested, fusoid cystidia similar to those of an Inocybe. We sent specimens to 

 Rev. Bresadplaand he writes us: -'The spores are 2-2^ x 4-5, basidia with 4 sterigmatae, 4-6 x 

 18-25, cystidia fusoid or clavate, 8-10 x 40-50. 



