32 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
The whole piant is 2-5 inches long and 1-2 inches broad in its 
widest part. The stem is .25—-2 inches long and 3-5 lines thick. 
In opening, the receptacle splits longitudinally into 4-6’ rays 
which curve graceiully outward revealing the whitish or sub- 
ochraceous hymenium. The chinks first appear at or near the 
middle of the receptacle and extend each way; downward to or 
nearly to the stem and upward to and through the umbo. The 
spores sometimes contain a single large nucleus, sometimes several 
small ones of unequal size. The paraphyses are moniliform, at 
least in the upper part. 
This species has been made the type of a new genus, Choriactis, 
chiefiy because the cells of the receptacle are wholly parenchymatous 
instead of being mostly prosenchymatous, as in the receptacle of 
Urnula craterium, the type species of the genus Urnula- 
To ignore all the plainly perceptible and easily ascertainable generic 
cheracters of a plant as large as this and give more weight to a 
slight difference in the cellular structure oi the receptacle than to 
them, certainly does not seem scientific or reasonable. And the 
absurdity of it is emphasized when, as in this case, this slight 
difference is made the chief reason not only ior the establishment 
of a new genus but for removing that genus with its one species 
to the family Pezizaceae with which it has hitle else in common. 
If such a course is to be followed it would be necessary to examine 
with a compound microscope all similar plants before it would be 
possible to refer them to their proper genera and families. 
In the species under consideration all the generic characters as- 
cribed by Fries to the genus Urnula are shown except one, namely 
“ore rotundo rimose dehiscens,” (splitting open in a rounded 
mouth). In Sylloge, this part of the Friesian generic description 
was modified or extended by adding after “ rotundo,” “vel lacini- 
ato” (or laciniate). There is also added under the description of 
Urnula craterium (Schw.) Fr. the remark, “ Passim lacini- 
atum dehiscit.” From this it appears that even the type species of 
the genus Urnula sometimes splits longitudinally. The gross dii- 
ference then between the generic character assigned by Fries to 
the genus Urnula and the species described as Urnula geaster 
comes so near the vanishing point that it seems superfluous to 
separate the two plants generically. 
Verpa digitaliformis Pers. 
At the base of sand banks. Karner, Albany co. May. D. B. 
Young. A rare species in our State and remarkable in this case 
for growing in sandy soil. 
