310 



Mycologia 



deciduous trees, covering spots injured by fire or otherwise. The 

 plant here grows spreading in a vertical position and forms 

 numerous imbricated, campanulate, and often pendent pilei of 

 considerable thickness. I have seen a quarter of an acre of young 

 white oak twenty or twenty-five years old in which nearly every 

 tree had a spot on one side near the ground and extending up 

 the trunk for one or two feet bare of bark and covered with 

 the sporophores of this plant. Whether the fungus had attacked 

 the living tree and produced these decayed spots or whether the 

 spots had been killed by other means and the fungus had taken 

 possession could not be positively determined. But I think the 

 latter was probably the case. It has seemed sometimes as though 

 this form was a distinct species, but I have found fallen limbs 

 of these same oaks on w'hich the fungus developed too closely the 

 characters of the typical H. ochraceum to warrant its being sepa- 

 rated as a separate species. 



Steccherinum dichroum (Pers.) 



Hydnuin dichroum Pers. Myc. Eur. 2: 213. 1825. 

 Hydnum piidorimim Fries, Elench. i : 133. 1828. 



The only specimen in Persoon's herbarium throwing any light 

 on this species was one sent to Persoon by Delastre marked 

 " hydnum rubiginosum Dre " and renamed in Persoon's hand 

 " Hydnum dichroum." As Persoon cites Delastre for his speci- 

 men, it is probable that this is the type specimen. In consistency 

 and character of teeth the plant closely resembles Steccherinum 

 ochraceum, but differs in its thicker subiculum and more flabelli- 

 form pilei. The plant perhaps approaches too near 5^. Rhois 

 (Schw.) to be regarded as a distinct species. There is, however, 

 a fairly well defined group of forms intermediate between 5. 

 ochraceum and vS". Rhois, of which this specimen appears to be 

 typical and which may, therefore, be regarded as constituting the 

 species 5^. dichroum (Pers.). 



At Upsala, specimens of similar character were referred uni- 

 formly to Hydnuin pudorinum Fr. From the late date of most 

 of these specimens it is improbable that they were ever seen by 

 E. Fries. A single specimen (of older date) was found, appar- 

 ently received from Delastre and marked in Delastre's hand 



