88 



Mycologia 



callosa " or " Poria corticola" from both of which it is very dis- 

 tinct. Peck described it from specimens collected on spruce logs 

 at Osceola, New York, and referred to its strong, disagreeable 

 odor ; but his name does not appear to have been known or used 

 outside of the state herbarium. 



The earliest tenable name applied to it seems to be that of Per- 

 soon, who described it from a specimen collected by Chaillet on 

 dead wood. His colored figure shows the " waves " in the hyme- 

 nium which suggested the name. Bresadola seemed to think in 

 1903 that Fries misapplied the name Poly poms vitreus Pers. to 

 this species, and his opinion is supported by a specimen from 

 Karsten collected on Pinus sylvestris. Another note I have from 

 him, however, is to the effect that Poria vitrea Pers. is not spe- 

 cifically distinct from P. undata, but that the former is smooth 

 and the latter an undulate variety. I see no difference between 

 types of Poria nigrescens Bres. and specimens collected by Over- 

 holts at Oxford, Ohio. This blackening is not common and 

 seems to be associated with thick, old forms which have " re- 

 vived " the second or third year. 



Fresh specimens are described as " pure-white, " " yellow, " 

 " reddish-flesh-colored," etc., and as separating readily from the 

 matrix. With specimens collected by Overholts on beech logs 

 in Ohio are the following notes : 



" Effused, separable, orbicular at first, then irregular, peren- 

 nial, 2-3 mm. thick ; margin thin, free, sterile, narrow, cottony, 

 white ; context inconspicuous ; hymenium plane, gray, yellowish 

 in weathered specimens ; tubes stratified, pallid within, 2 mm. 

 long each season ; mouths circular, small, 6-J to a mm., edges 

 thin, entire ; spores globose, smooth, hyaline, 3 ft in diameter." 



Few species have such a wide distribution and find themselves 

 • at home on so many widely different hosts. Elm, beech, alder, 

 orange, white oak, shingle oak, hemlock, spruce, fir, pine, Douglas 

 spruce, and other trees are found mentioned as furnishing sub- 

 strata for it; while the following list of specimens will indicate 

 its distribution: 



Barth. Fungi Columb. 5042; Rab. Fungi Eur. 2004; Zopf & 

 Syd. Myc. Mar. 5; England, Plowright ; Finland, Karsten; Ber- 



