Fungi of the Marshall Islands — Rogers 
103 
the Marianas to the Moluccas. The size of 
the Marshalls specimens is not remarkable, 
nor does the largest specimen at hand, a 
Hawaiian basidiocarp 20 X 12 cm., signifi¬ 
cantly exceed the maximum given by Mar¬ 
tin (1944: 65) for A. auricularis —which, 
as it happens, is also described by Persoon as 
"sat magna”; but the typical development of 
the tropical fungus seems to be a larger one. 
The yellow-ashy dorsal surface and blackish 
hymenium are characteristic of mature speci¬ 
mens, grown in strong light, of the form 
under discussion, which is probably the one 
Auricularia of the Pacific islands resembling 
A. auricularis. Whether the two are dis¬ 
tinct has been doubted; probably reports of 
A. auricula-judae from Oceania, such as. 
Hennings’s, cited earlier, and Patouillard’s, 
refer to the fungus here called A. ampla. By 
its more strongly pilose basidiocarps, con¬ 
spicuously rosy young hymenia, and some¬ 
what larger spores it is at least readily dis¬ 
tinguishable, and one inclined to question 
the distinctness of the Pacific form should 
note that the differences are much greater in 
living than in preserved material. Unsatis¬ 
factory as it is, Persoon s account gives as 
sound a basis for the identification of his 
fungus as do those of later authors whose 
names have been more commonly adopted. 
Briefly, that basis is an abbreviated descrip¬ 
tion which, allowance being made for ob¬ 
vious error, is quite applicable, as far as it 
goes, to the fungus at hand, and with that 
description a geographical limitation which 
seems to confine the application to the one 
species. Reference to the original valid de¬ 
scriptions of accepted species of Auricularia 
will show that they are no better founded. It 
is at least highly probable that the form 
under consideration is A. ampla, and that 
name should be superseded only if reason 
appears to doubt the correctness of its appli¬ 
cation, or if an earlier name, likewise prob¬ 
ably applicable, exists. 4 
Dried mature specimens from the Mar¬ 
shalls mostly show on the dorsal surface a 
color that cannot be exactly matched in 
Ridgway—more tawny, and less greenish, 
than Olive-Buff or Deep Olive-Buff; the 
grayer specimens are Pale Olive-Gray to 
Mouse Gray; the hymenium is Light Quaker 
Drab to Blackish Plumbeous. A specimen 
soaked for spore-printing (and still alive) 
showed the hirsute surface Pallid Mouse 
Gray and Light Mouse Gray to a tawny 
color like that of the dried material, and the 
hymenium Light Heliotrope-Gray to Dark 
Purple-Drab, Dark Vinaceous-Gray, and 
Heliotrope-Slate; certainly young specimens 
were redder when first collected. Freshly 
collected Hawaiian specimens have the dor¬ 
sal surface Tilleul Buff and Vinaceous-Buff 
to Sorghum Brown, Drab-Gray, and Drab, 
and the hymenium Russet-Vinaceous to 
Sorghum Brown. The colors of the very 
brightest young hymenia have not been 
recorded; according to my recollection they 
4 Through the great kindness of Dr. A. J. Lam 
and R. A. Maas Geesteranus of the Rijksherba- 
rium, Leiden, I have recently (11.18.47) been 
permitted to study adequate fragments of the 
type of A. ampla and a photograph of the entire 
type collection. The two fructifications there pre¬ 
sent measure respectively 4.5 X 3.5 and 8X7 cm.; 
the dorsal surface is evenly pilose, and Cinnamon 
Brown to Prout’s Brown (Mr. Maas Geesteranus 
writes that the smaller specimen is glabrescent); 
the ventral surface is nearly smooth (only a few 
low folds appearing in the photograph), not 
pruinose, and Plumbeous Black or Black. The 
layers shown in section are the same as those here 
described in the Marshalls material except that for 
about 75 ^ above the basidia the medullary layer 
includes a continuous mass of colorless, amor¬ 
phous, refractive material not seen in any Mar¬ 
shalls specimen sectioned. Persoon’s type and the 
Hawaiian and Marshall Islands specimens agree 
very closely, and their identity may be considered 
to be established. The name A. ampla which 
heads this note cannot, however, be retained; it is 
antedated by Exidia cornea (Ehrenb.) ex Fries, 
Syst. Mycol. 2: 222, 1822 {Auricularia cornea 
Ehrenb., Hor. Phys. Berol. 91, pi. 19, fig. 9, 1820), 
a name applied to the same fungus collected on 
Oahu by Chamisso. The valid name is then Auri¬ 
cularia cornea ([Ehrenb.} ex Fries) Ehrenb. ex—. 
I have been unable to find that this binomial has 
been validly published; it seems unlikely that a 
still earlier name will be discovered. 
The type of A. ornata is now lacking at Leiden. 
