46 



Mycologia 



Trametes serpens 



This species was first described by Fries in 1818 under Poly- 

 porus, then transferred to Daedalea in 1821, and finally to Tra- 

 metes in 1874. In the " Systema," the following description of it 

 appears : 



" D. serpens, effusa, suberoso-tenuis, confluens, ligneo-pallens, 

 margine villoso, poris magnis inaequalibus. 



" Color D. quercinae. Margo tenuis, pubescens. Sinulorum 

 dissepimenta crassa. Inter corticis rimas per lineas elongatas 

 seriatas & confluentes serpit. Ad truncos Quercus mortuos, sed 

 non prostratos ! " 



This description was well supplemented by Fries in his Icon. 

 pi. 192, f. 3, which shows the characteristic, large, unequal pores, 

 over 1 mm. in diameter. The spores are said to be ovoid, hyaline, 

 14X6/X, and no mention is made of setae. I have examined 

 specimens in the various European herbaria and have in the col- 

 lection here an excellent specimen from Bristol, England, sent by 

 Massee. The conclusion I reached at Upsala in 1906 was: "All 

 the Trametes serpens found in Europe is entirely different from 

 what goes by this name in America. The pores are larger and 

 are all different." 



When collecting in Cuba, I found the American plant very 

 abundant, and it is surprising that it does not appear prominently 

 in the list of Cuban fungi collected by Wright. The only descrip- 

 tion in this list that seems to fit it is of Polyporus excurrens 

 ( Wright 391), collected once in April on the underside of old 

 logs and described by Berkeley and Curtis as 



" Totus resupinatus, immarginatus, lignicolor ; poris mediis 

 subangulatis demum sinuosis, dissepimentis crassiusculis obtusis 

 acie subtiliter tomentosis. Pores % 0 mcn m diameter." 



The type of this species was not found by me at Kew, and the 

 brief description alone would hardly justify a positive statement 

 regarding its identity. I have asked Miss Wakefield to look up 

 the type. 



In the "Ellis Collection," many specimens are found collected 

 in Florida, where this species seems to be unusually abundant on 

 various kinds of dead deciduous wood. These specimens are 



