112 
JOURNAL OF MYCOLOGY. 
[VOL. Ill, No. 10, 
Since sending off the copy of “ Synopsis of Xylaria,” we have 
received from Prof. A. P. Morgan the two following species collected by 
him at Preston, Ohio, and determined by Dr. M. C. Cooke. 
29. Xylaria CASTOREA,Berk.—Fl.Xew Zealand, p.201. The descrip¬ 
tion in Sylloge, I, p. 329, is as follows: Stipe short at first, spongy-velu- 
tinous, finally bare, rugose; club obtuse, ovate or subelliptical, much 
compressed, minutely areolate, roughened by the prominent ostiola; 
asci narrow; sporidia ovoid-oblong, fulignious, 10 V- long. On rotten 
wood. New Zealand. Stroma 2—3 cm. high, 12—16 millim. thick. The 
Ohio specimens are csespitose and arise from a spongy, sterile base simi¬ 
lar to that of X. corniformis , only larger. They have the asci (spore-bear¬ 
ing part) 50—55 p long; sporidia uniseriate, opaque, inequilateral-ellip¬ 
tical, 8—9 x 4—41 ! J Judging from these specimens, the only definite 
characters separating X castorea from X. corniformis are the cespitose 
growth and compressed clubs of the former. The asci and sporidia are 
the same in both and the general appearance is similar. 
Xylaria conocephala, B. & C.—Journ. Linn. Soc., X, p. 379. The 
description given is as follows: “Maxima, csespitosa, e basi obtusa 
conica, umbrina, rimulosa, exsiccatione hie illic contracta; ostiolis 
sparsis prominulis; stipite brevi longitudinaliter suleato-rugoso. On 
dead wood. Stem one half an inch, head 34 high, 1 Ithick ; sporidia cym- 
biform, .0008—.0006 inch long.” In the Ohio specimens, the stroma is 
csespitose and branched from the base, dividing into seven or eight 
elongated-clavate, erect branches, about three inches high and one cm. 
thick (in the dry state). There is no distinct stem, except the irregular¬ 
shaped mass formed by the connate bases of the branching stroma, 
which is white and spongy within. The perithecia are subovate and 
nearly one millim. in their longest diameter and extend down on the 
common base ; ostiola large, subconic; asci (spore-bearing part) 100—112 
P long; sporidia uniseriate, navicular, opaque, 20—22 x 5 ! L . 
Poronia, Willd. Flor. Berol. Prod., p. 400. 
Stroma carnose-suberose, at first clavate or obconic, becoming cup¬ 
shaped, stipitate or sessile; perithecia immersed in the upper discoid 
surface of the stroma, membranaceo-carbonaceous, black; asci cylindri¬ 
cal, 8-spored ; sporidia ellipsoid, brown, fimicolous. 
1. Poronia punctata (Linn.) Fr. Summ. Veg. Scand , p. 382 ; 
Nitscli. Pyr. Germ., p. 16; Pcziza punctata, Linn , FI. Suec., p. 458; 
Sphceria Poronia , Pers. Syn., p. 15. 
Stroma erect, simple, obconic or clavate at first, soon open above and 
cup-sliaped, with the exposed disk white, finally often expanded and 
flattened, and nearly sessile, I—1 cm. across ; disk at first clothed and 
whitened by the minute, globose conidia, finally black-punctate from the 
projecting black ostiola of the subjacent perithecia; asci cylindrical, 
briefly pedicellate, 125—150 x 16—18 p ; sporidia uniseriate, elliptical, with 
the ends rounded or more or less acute, surrounded at first with a hyaline 
coat, soon brown or opaque, 17—25 x 10—14 /'•. We have fine specimens 
of this species from Prof. F. W. Cragin, of Topeka, Kansas, and also 
specimens from Colorado, communicated by Mr. E. A. Ran. Habitat on 
horse dung. 
