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More Fungi from the Front Lawn 



Laura A. Kolk 



Since 1934, I have been recording the different species of fungi 

 which have appeared on the grounds of a small suburban home on 

 Long Island. Twenty-three species were reported in 1935 (Torreya 

 35: 31-32, 1935), and since then the number has almost doubled; 

 but it is as interesting to watch each year for the reappearance of 

 the old "perennials" ( ?) as to welcome newcomers. Previous refer- 

 ence has been made to the two blue spruce trees, approximately 

 thirty years old which dominate a portion of the front lawn. A scar- 

 let oak, a dogwood tree, and a hemlock, all about the same age as 

 the spruce, mark the boundary of the nearby adjoining property. 

 Other gymnosperms are scattered over the lawn, but they offer less 

 favorable cover for the growth of fungi. 



Each year Russulas appear during the summer in the vicinity 

 of the oak. Short-stalked specimens are characteristic, so that the 

 purplish-red and grayish-green caps are in many cases scarcely 

 raised above the ground. Russula variata seems to be the common 

 species, and it is spreading in the grass beyond the immediate area 

 under the oak. Xylaria polymorpha, found in 1934, occurred in 

 abundance in the spring of 1936 in the form of small specimens 

 about an inch and a half tall, but seems to have disappeared. A maple 

 tree, growing too close to the oak, had been removed several years 

 previously and old roots may have been left in the ground, possibly 

 accounting for the appearance of the Xylaria in this location. How- 

 ever, this summer (1941) another specimen appeared, but in an 

 entirely different place. 



Ainanitopsis vaginata var. plunihea is another species which 

 yearly makes its appearance in an area of approximately ten feet 

 between the scarlet oak and a narrow flower border along the side 

 porch of the house. The volva of this agaric sheathes the base of the 

 stipe much more closely than that of the heavier volva of Ainani- 

 topsis volvata — a newcomer in the vicinity of the oak during the past 

 two years. The volva of the latter is very thick, and splits at the 

 margin into two or three deep clefts. The sporophore is quite slow 

 in reaching maturity, sometimes requiring two days or more to 

 emerge from the button stage. In July 1941, there appeared within 

 a few feet of the place where I have usually found A. volvata, an- 



