LIB r< ART 

 NEW VOKK 

 BOTANtcAL 



OAKOHN 



TORREYA 



Vol. 24 No. 2 



March- April, 1924 



CUP-FUNGI* OF COMMON OCCURRENCE 



Fred J. Seaver 



As spring opens the nature lover is glad to welcome the return 

 of the flowers which occur with such surprising regularity in the 

 same region year after year. He will not hesitate to predict 

 what species will be found at any given time and place barring 

 unusual climatic conditions. 



Few realize that many of the fungi occur with the same regu- 

 larity and that, indeed, what we call the fungus merely corre- 

 sponds to the flowering and fruiting stage of the higher plants, 

 and that their growing stage persists, unseen, in the soil or other 

 substratum throughout the year and often for many years or 

 until the substratum itself becomes so changed chemically that 

 it can no longer support this kind of life. So if sufficiently ob- 

 servant one can also predict the fungus flora of any given region 

 for any particular period with about as much certainty as that 

 of the flowering plants, provided the rainfall is normal. 



Taking as an illustration the cup-fungi, including the most con- 

 spicuous and attractive forms of the higher fungi belonging to 

 the group known as the ascomycetes, we find the group made up 

 of early spring, summer, and autumn species while others like 

 many of the flowering plants continue to fruit throughout the 

 warm or growing season. The fruiting time of some species is 

 limited to a single month in a given region which in warmer or 

 colder parts may be shifted a month forward or backward as the 

 case may be. 



For the benefit of local workers who are interested in out-of- 

 door excursions, we will enumerate a few of the cup-fungi which 



* An illustrated volume on the Cup-Fungi of North America is in course of 

 preparation by the writer and to this end, specimens, photographs or data 

 bearing on the occurrence and distribution of any of the species will be gladly 

 received, as well as the names of any who might be interested in securing such 

 a volume when completed. 



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