Fig. 395. 



those specimens I have not seen, I have plainly so indicated it in each 

 instance. The eleven sections in which the species are divided being 

 mostly the old, familiar sections, need little explanation. The two 

 that are least known are the sections Ganodermus and Amaurodcrmus, 

 which at our hands have undergone changes of gender in order to be 

 uniform with the others. 



The section Ganodermus was first proposed for the common Poly- 

 porus lucidus of Europe. There are but few species in temperate 

 regions, but it is more common in the tropics. The 

 main characters are usually a strongly laccate sur- 

 face, colored context, and the real character is a 

 spore character. The spore (Fig. 395) has a hyaline 

 membrane or epispore which is large and projects 

 at the base beyond the colored endospore. This 

 empty base usually collapses, then the spore beconu-s 

 truncate at the base. It has been stated that this 

 is not the base but the apex of the spore, a state- 

 ment I do not believe. 



Amaurodermus is a tropical section. All species have stems, 

 usually central but also lateral. The surface is generally dull and the 

 stems velutinate. The spores (Fig. 396) 

 usually in abundance, are colored, globose 

 or oblong, large, and the endospore fills 

 the epispore. The apiculus is rarely promi- 

 nent. We have included in this section sev- 

 eral thin species in which we have not 

 found the spores and which we doubt really 

 belong to it. 



The other sections that we adopt are 

 the well-known sections of Fries' system 

 that need no special explanation other than 

 our key. Some species present characters that would place them in 

 two sections. In such cases we use our own judgment in placing them 

 where we think they best belong. The names for the sections are mostly 

 the same that Fries used. In one case, Perennis, we use another name, 

 Pelloporus, for reasons we have previously stated, viz., the plants are 

 not perennial. 



OP. 



Fig. 396. 



