Alas see, — A Monograph of the Geoglosseae, 249 
Geoglossum nigritum , Cooke, Mycogr. 205, fig. 345, 1879; Sacc., 
Syll. viii, n. 145, 1889; Rehm, Kr.-Fl. n. 5874, 1896. 
Clavaria nigrita , Fries, Hymen. Eur. 676, 1874, not of Persoon, 
Syn. 604. 
Exs. — Cooke, Brit. Fung. n. 481 ; Cooke, Brit. Fung. ed. ii, n. 394 ; 
Berk,, Brit. Fung, n. 256; Roumeg., Fung. Gall. n. 2419 ; Klotzsch- 
Rabenh ., Herb. Myc. n. 424. 
Hah. — On the ground among grass, &c. 
Distr. — Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, 
Finland, Italy, Austria, Victoria (Harkaway Range, French ), South 
Carolina. 
Specimens from Fries in the Kew Herbarium show that his 
G. dip or me and G. nigritum are identical, and again in a broad sense 
are identical with G, glabrum , differing mainly in the tips of the 
paraphyses not being so distinctly clavate, and constricted at the 
septa near the apex. The characteristic clavate form of the spore 
is present. 
As Geoglossum nigritum may be again restored by some one to 
specific rank, its true history may as well be told, so as to prevent 
complication in the future. Persoon described a fungus, which he 
called Clavaria nigrita (Pers., Syn. 604, 1801). There seems every 
reason to believe that this fungus was a genuine Clavaria, as that 
genus is defined at the present day, and that the description and 
figure given by Bresadola (Fung. Trident. 62, tab. Ixvii, fig. 4) repre- 
sents Persoon’s fungus. Fries quotes Persoon’s fungus as Clavaria 
nigrita , Pers., and gives Persoon’s own diagnosis of his species in 
Syst. Myc. i, 483, 1821, and Epicr. 578, 1836-38. In Hym. Eur. 
676, 1874, Fries again gives Persoon’s name and diagnosis of the 
fungus under consideration, but adds, ‘ species insignis, habitu Geo- 
glossi, nuperius ad Halmbyboda prope Upsaliam lecta (v. v.).’ 
Here, for the first time, Fries collected what he supposed to be the 
Clavaria nigrita of Persoon. A portion of this gathering was sent 
by Fries to Berkeley, and is now in the Kew Herbarium. This 
specimen was examined by Cooke, and found to be a Geoglossum , 
and figured, inaccurately, in Mycogr. 205, fig. 345, 1879. Cooke, 
however, did not doubt this fungus being the Clavaria nigrita , Pers., 
and figured it as such, on the faith of the species determined by Fries, 
calling it ‘ Geoglossum nigritum , Pers.’ 
