Parks: California Hypogaeous Fungi 311 



27th of September, in an old road well covered with leaves, I col- 

 lected about a dozen small brown tubers fully matured and grow- 

 ing closely together on the surface of the ground. These were 

 typical specimens of Tuber lignarkim on the appearance of the 

 spores. The same conditions repeated to some extent in Novem- 

 ber, 1920, and mature tubers were again collected in the same place. 

 These tubers had fully matured since the rains ceased on the 12th 

 of the month. 



In February of the present year the same brown tubers began to 

 appear under the oaks, and in March they were to be found every- 

 where on the warm upper hillsides, and in April they reached the 

 greatest abundance and maturity. Many of these plants reached 

 a size well over 2 cm. They are very rough in appearance, gen- 

 erally globose or very much lobed, occasionally flattened with the 

 venae externae converging at the apex. The peridium appears to 

 be rough without being verrucose; the tissue of the gleba is at first 

 white, then becoming a faint purple, and finally brown as the 

 mature spores appear all through the tissue. It is very much like 

 T. candidum in taste and is without odor. There is very little sign 

 of any mycelium and no point of attachment visible. Plants ex- 

 amined in the ground show only a few fine threads traversing the 

 surface of the plant. Frequent clusters of four plants are found 

 together, apparently arising from spores in the same ascus. In 

 cases like this there is a development of one plant at the expense 

 of the others, it seemingly absorbing its food from the surrounding 

 moist ground, so that one will hardly grow at all, the next but 

 little, the third less than average, while the one may be considerably 

 above the average. 



Geopora Harknessii occurs regularly in the winter and early 

 spring in some abundance usually under the pines all through the 

 mountains. I have found it rarely under the oaks. Globose or 

 irregular in shape, roughly folded tissue, with a very dark brown 

 tomentose peridium and reaching a size of 4-5 centimeters if con- 

 ditions are favorable. The plants are not easily seen under the 

 wet leaves owing to the color. Frequently found on the surface 

 of the ground, but well covered with the pine needles, but very 

 often is to be collected in clay soil fully exposed at the surface. 



