116 



The three forms considered above do not by any means 

 exhaust the possibiHties of variation in this species. A form has 

 been found in Connecticut by Underwood in which the teeth in 

 the dried specimen were subtranslucent, yellowish rufescent, com- 

 pressed at base, narrowing abruptly into a terete upper portion 

 with ciliate lighter tips. This remarkable plant would be con- 

 sidered as sufficiently marked to form the basis of a new species 

 but for the fact that only one specimen has been seen and that 

 studied only in the dry state. 



Hypothele repanda is sometimes reported as having teeth 

 somewhat flattened or even fimbriate. This is not the usual char- 

 acter and may indicate a tendency under certain conditions to 

 vary in a definite direction. Sowerby, Eng. Fung. //. ijd, figures 

 a plant of this type. E^arle reports a plant marked by this 

 feature as found in a sphagnum swamp, Auburn, Alabama, the 

 teeth being i mm. wide and 2-4 mm. long in the dried specimen. 

 In his field-notes on this specimen Prof Earle says, " Reaching 

 6 cm., the largest specimen I have seen of this flesh-colored 

 Hj'dfuii/i,'" which would indicate that the southern forms of H. 

 repanda are small. Several years ago the writer found a small 

 specimen of this type and not having then seen H. repanda the 

 plant was referred to Sistotrenia. It seems very probable that 

 such a mistake has occurred in the case of other collectors. In 

 fact, the question may reasonably be raised if the genus Sistotrenia 

 has not itself been established on some such variable type. In 1 902 

 the writer found, at Schaghticoke, N. Y., a group of these plants 

 showing a remarkable development of the flattened teeth. On a 

 wooded hillside of sand loam and in comparatively wet ground 

 was a bunch of three plants. The first was 7.5 cm. high ; pileus 

 7.5 cm. wide, irregular, subinfundibuliform, the surface cracked 

 and broken up more or less into thick scales, buff-colored ; stem 5 

 cm. long, 7 mm. thick, somewhat bulbous at base, cream-colored ; 

 teeth close-set, flattened, often 2-4 mm. wide, a few normal terete 

 teeth scattered among them, the upper edge of the flat teeth 

 sometimes cut-toothed. The flattening of the teeth did not 

 appear to be in any definite direction. The other two plants 

 were similar but smaller and had relatively more normal 



