236 
Mycologia 
Ohio plants as Psilopezia nummularia Berk, until Massee’s work 
caused him to change his mind, the letter referred to above 
written in 1883 by his own hand shows that he originally sus- 
pected that this was Schweinitz’s plant and he was doubtless 
misled by the wrong determination of plants distributed by Mr. 
Ellis. ^ In his later paper on the “ Discomycetes of the Miami 
Valley,” it will be noted that his early suspicions were confirmed. 
To ]\Ir. Morgan, therefore, probably belongs the credit of having 
worked out the identity of Pcziza clypeata Schw. 
In 1879, Dr. Peck redescribed this plant as Bulgaria bicolor. 
Later having apparently decided that it was not a Bulgaria, he 
transferred it to the genus Pcziza. The specific name was un- 
tenable in this genus since it was preoccupied and the name Pcziza 
orbicularis was used. I have examined the type of this species 
and find it identical with Pcziza clypeata. 
With the single exception of the specimen sent to Mr. Ellis 
in 1883, all of the plants of this species which have been studied 
in our collection — and the species has been collected frequently — 
have been called Psilopezia nummularia Berk, or Pcziza orbicu- 
laris Peck. The object of the present paper is to call attention 
to the identity of the plant and its synonyms. 
Except for a slight difference in the color of dried plants, 
Psilopezia juruensis P. Henn. does not seem to differ. Speci- 
mens of this species from* South America have been examined. 
The fact that these plants occur on much decayed wood renders 
it difficult to determine its substratum with certainty. Dr. Peck 
reports his plants on deca3nng birch. Our own appeared to be 
growing on decaying soft maple. In most cases the plants are 
reported simply on rotten wood. 
While Psilopezia nummularia Berk, is usually regarded as a 
distinct species, there is enough similarity between the two to 
partly justify the confusion which has existed. The two are 
similar in spore characters and color. Both are adnate to the 
wood on which they grow. In Psilopezia nummularia, how- 
ever, the plants appear to be smaller — they were originally de- 
scribed as one third of an inch in diameter — and always entirely 
adnate and surrounded by a white mycelial border. The margin 
2 North American Fungi 568 
