MYCOLOGIA 



Vol. X March, 1918 No. 2 



THE CLAVARIA FISTULOSA GROUP 



Edward T. Harper 

 (With Plates 3-5, Containing 8 Figures) 



Plants of this group have been reported very rarely from this 

 country. Clavaria juncea is listed by Dr. Peck in the 22d Report 

 of the New York State Museum from specimens collected by Dr. 

 Howe, and Peck says this was the first report of the species from 

 America. It has been recently reported from Michigan by Kauri- 

 man. Clement's illustration in Minnesota Plant Studies, IV : p. 

 113, evidently refers to a form of the Clavaria vermicularis group. 



Dr. Peck found a single specimen of Clavaria fistulosa in the 

 Catskill Mountains in October, 1872, and this is the only collec- 

 tion of the species outside of Europe mentioned in the Sylloge. 

 Professor Dearness collected the species in coniferous swamps at 

 Avon, Canada, in October, 1897, and it was distributed in Fungi 

 Columb. 121/j. under the name Clavaria inaequalis. Professor 

 Dearness has sent me specimens of the collection correctly 

 named. 



Clavaria contorta, which is supposed to be a young stage of 

 Clavaria fistulosa, is said in the Sylloge to have been collected by 

 some of the older botanists in New England and North Carolina. 



The little notice the plants have received is probably due as 

 much to the conditions under which sporophores are produced 

 as to the rarity of the mycelium. It requires at least two weeks 

 of daily rain, with the dead leaves on the ground continuously 

 soaked with water, to produce a crop of Clavaria juncea at Nee- 

 bish, Michigan. Under such conditions, specimens are usually to 



[Mycologia for January (10: 1-52) was issued Fabruary 14, 1918.] 



53 



