INTRODUCTION TO CRYPTOGAMIC BOTANY. 355 



for instance, Tremella inir^purca of Bulgaria sarcoides ; but 

 there really appears to be no good reason for the notion. That 

 Dacrymyces Urticce is a condition of Peziza Fusavioides, is 

 pretty well ascertained, but then it is not a true Dacrymyces. 

 In Nctimetelia the nucleus of the stroma has a white calca- 

 reous aj)pearance, totally different from the rest, and peculiarly 

 subject to the attacks of insects in the herbarium. The cal- 

 careous appearance does not, however, appear to arise from the 

 presence of crystallised matter, but from a compact structure 

 free from mucilage or jelly. 



384. The greater part of this group are inhabitants pecu- 

 liarly of temperate climates ; but Exidia is an exception, which 

 is abundant in all tropical climates ; and one of the species, 

 E. Aiiricida Judm, is a perfect cosmopolite. A few only 

 are so gelatinous as scarcely to admit of being well preserved 

 for the herbarium. Tremella occurs in the warmer parts of 

 North America, and is found in New Zealand. A species also 

 occurs in the Himalayas. Exidia Auricula JudcG was once 

 a popular remedy for sore throats, probably from some fancied 

 resemblance of the hymenium to the fauces, and it is still 

 occasionally sold in Covent Garden. 



2. Clavariei, Fr. 



Receptacle clavate, fusiform, or variously branched ; very 

 rarely gelatinous, hymenhim circumambient, covering the upper 

 part of the fungus, with or without a distinct barren stem. 



385. The stroma is here decidedly elongated, and in many 

 instances a stem is formed perfectly distinct from the hyme- 

 nium, and differing sometimes in character from the rest of the 

 plant. The form of the unbranched species is, in fact, the same 

 as was already anticijsated in some of the Elvellacei, as Mitrula 

 and Geoglossurti ; but the structure of the hymenium is totally 

 different. This follows the surface of the receptacle, and is 

 generally without any decided inequality ; in S^yarassis alone 

 the clavate form is obliterated, and we have the foliaceous or 

 puckered state of some of the higher Tremelke. Extension 

 of surface is, however, in many cases attained, and that to a con- 

 siderable degree, by ramification ; in consequence of which, and 

 of the great variety and beauty of colouring, the tribe contains 



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