A NEW PHALLOID GENUS 



William A. Murrill 



Protophallus gen. nov. 



Peridium epigeal, sessile, globose, of one layer, breaking into 

 irregular fragments at maturity; volva none; mycelium incon- 

 spicuous : gleba olivaceous, odorless, attached to hyaline mem- 

 branes projecting from the inner surface of the peridium at 

 regular intervals and floating free at maturity in a hyaline, gelati- 

 nous Hquid : spores very minute, ellipsoid, subhyaline under a 

 microscope. 



Protophallus jamaicensis sp. nov. 



Peridium spherical, white at maturity, 4 cm. in diameter, con- 

 sisting of a single layer i mm. thick, resembling parchment, the 

 entire peridium breaking at the maturity of the spores into several 

 large, irregular pieces; gleba attached to the peridium by thin, 

 radial, hyaline, membranous plates and projecting in elongated, 

 olivaceous, odorless masses nearly or quite to the center of the 

 sporophore, the remaining space being filled at maturity with a 

 homogeneous, hyaline, semigelatinous, odorless liquid ; spores very 

 copious, oblong-ellipsoid, smooth, subhyaline under a microscope, 

 3-5 X 1.5/^. 



Type collected January 7, 1909, on shaded soil rich in humus 

 on the bank of the Clyde River near Cinchona, Jamaica, at an 

 elevation of 1,600 meters, W. A. Murrill 5(5/. 



When first observed, this species was thought to be the " egg " 

 of a Phallus, but, on making a section, it was found to be quite 

 mature and utterly devoid of a stipe or other elongating tissue. 

 At the first incision, the hyaline liquid exuded, soon followed by 

 lobes of the olivaceous, sporogenous tissue, which floated free 

 like the gills of a fish or the mantle of an oyster. The liquid 

 resembled the white of an egg, but poured out in large drops 

 like semi-fluid jelly. It was probably the result of deliquescence. 

 The membranous plates to which the spore-masses were attached 

 were as regular in arrangement as the partitions of an orange, but 

 they did not extend to the center. Miss Taylor, who was study- 



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