identity of the American and European plants, I think no one knows what 

 Linnaeus so named so many years ago and few know it in the sense of Fries ' 

 An excellent illustration has recently been given of the plant by Boudier under 

 the name Polyporus leucomelas. 11 



POLYPORUS CAERULIPORUS.-Pileus fleshy, broadly con- 

 vex, and when in its prime it is bright, violaceous or 'blue, losing the 

 bright color and becoming brownish when old. Stipe central, con- 

 colorous. Pores short, angular, bright, bluish color when fresh. 

 Spores subglobose, 4^2-5, hyaline, smooth. 



This is a most striking species, bright colored as any Cortinarius when in its 

 prime. Unfortunately it is as rare 12 as it is beautiful in the United States and 

 is unknown in Europe. Peck found and named it thirty years ago. Recently 

 Atkinson found it in North Carolina and as it was "new" (to him) he also named 

 it. When one does not know about such striking and marked species as Polyporus 

 caeruliporus it is a very easy matter to discover "new species." 



POLYPORUS POLITUS. A description of the plant is given in Fries 

 Hymenomycetes, page 525, and it is figured in his Icones, t. 179. It is a very 

 rare plant in Europe, only known from Fries' record and but one specimen at 

 Kew which was sent to Berkeley by Fries. 13 It is a peculiar reddish color and 

 the specimen seems to this day to bear out the color as shown in the Icones. 

 The spores as I find them are globose, 3-4 mic., hyaline, smooth. It grew in 

 frondose woods. Polyporus pachypus which was referred here by Fries as a 

 synonym, is according to specimens in Persoon's herbarium quite another thing. 

 Should it develop that Polyporus politus was only regular mesopodial specimens 

 of Polyporus confluens I would not be surprised. 



The three following species are unknown to me : 



Polyporus violaceo-maculatus. Described from China as brownish gray, thin with white flesh. 

 Pores white, spotting brown-violaceous at the touch, small, decurrent. Spores ovoid, 6 x 8-10, hyaline, 

 smooth. 



Polyporus decurrens from California, said to have a rough, " tuberculose," brown surface, thin, 

 white flesh, small, decurrent, white pores and to be " only known from the type locality," which means 

 that no one else has " discovered " it except the wonderful discoverer. 



Polyporus myclodes, as published in Grevillea and found in Saccardo is said to be a typograph- 

 ical mistake for myelodes. No specimen exists at Kew, and Kalchbrenner who named it was not a 

 very certain authority. Described as being infundibuliform, yellowish with thin, white flesh. Pores 

 small, white. It came from Australia. 



GROUP 3. STIPE CENTRAL. PORES LARGE. 



Polyporus tuberaster, which would otherwise have belonged in this section, 

 we have placed in the first section, on account of having a (false) sclerotium. 

 It would probably be better to place it here. 



GROUP 4. STEMS USUALLY EXCENTRIC OR IRREGULAR. 

 PORES SMALL. 



We have placed in this group two plants that were placed by Fries in the 



10 Fries gives a poor picture of it, I think (Sv. All. t. 53), and the present mycologists in Sweden 

 do not find it tt all. I think they do find it (rarely , but call it Polyporus leucomelas. 



11 Our figure 498 of the peculiar spores has been taken from this plate. Copied through the 

 kindness of Miss Wakefield at Kew. 



121 have never seen it tresh and have received dried specimens from only four correspondents, 

 viz : H. C. Beardslee, North Carolina ; John Dearness, Canada ; J. Vroom. New Brunswick and G 

 Hay, New Brunswick. It loses all blue color in drying and turns brown. 



13 Fries kpt none in his own collection. 



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