Macbride: Notes on Iowa Saprophytes 85 



pying the space of >^ inch when expanded. Schweinitz evidently 

 knew naught of chink or " rima." 



De Toni in Revue Mycologique, 1887, p. 73, brings us, however, 

 some help. De Toni, speaking of the Italian form, G. mar- 

 ginatus of Vittadini, says : " Cette espece est done une des plus 

 petites du genre: elle differe du G. minimus S. par la forme du 

 peridium interne, et par la sillon autour du peristome." That is, 

 "this species is one of the least of the genus: it differs from 

 G. minimus by the form of the inner peridium and by the furrow 

 around the peristome." Furrow or groove will do. The furrow, 

 however, is owing to the elevation of a sort of marginal crest 

 rather than to any marked depression around the areole. 



Some years since, a tiny geaster was brought in, taken under a 

 thicket of Juniperus virginianus L. The form closely resembles 

 specimens of G. minimus Schw. but differs in several minor par- 

 ticulars. It is also like G. marginatus Vitt. but lacks the furrow. 



It has seemed worth while to record this western form in order 

 to make comparison of the three. It may be characterized as 

 follows : 



Geaster juniperinus sp. nov. 



Outer peridium multifid, variable, 5-9-lobed; inner peridium 

 ovate, elongate, pedicellate, white or bluish-white; stoma conic, 

 ciliate, rising from a definite but only slightly depressed areole; 

 columella stout; capillitial threads smooth, pallid by transmitted 

 light, in diameter about ^fx; spores globose, warted, dark-brown, 

 almost black in mass, about 3/x. 



On the ground beneath juniper trees, Iowa. The figures on 

 the accompanying plate, by Jessie Parish, show the slight differ- 

 ences separating the kindred forms. 



The Schweinitzian species in all cases observed are more nearly 

 spherical, with paler and more coarsely warted spores. Vittadini's, 

 i. e., the European type, is intermediate, has different spores, 

 more elongate inner peridium, and depressed areole. The Iowa 

 form differs in color, in spore-color and markings, approaching 

 G. minimus in areole, and G. marginatus in other points of struc- 

 ture. The columella in G. minimus is almost nil; in G. juniper- 

 inus well developed, strong, and persistent. 



Iowa City, Iowa, 

 Oct. 20, 1911. 



