Dr. Herbst’s house, in August, 1892, this plant grew in great abund¬ 
ance. Not a single specimen ever grew on that pile before or since, 
and has not been found elsewhere in the United States. (*) Dr. 
Herbst’-s specimen is identical in every respect with specimens received 
from France. 
Specimens in our Collection. 
Pennsylvania, Dr. Wm. C. Herbst. France, N. Patouillard. 
239—DICTYOCEPHALOS CURVATUS. 
(Plate 11). 
One of the strangest plants that has been brought to the notice 
of mycologists in the last few years is the above, described by Prof. 
Underwood in 1901. It grows in the arid, alkaline regions of the 
West, and is a very rare plant. The only collection now known is in 
the herbarium of New York Botanical Garden. 
The plant has a thick woody volva, which remains as a cup at 
the base as shown in our plate, portions being also adherent to the 
peridium. The stem is long (the specimen photographed measuring 
85 cm.) hard woody, solid, tapering to the base. It is very firm, hard 
texture, and reminds one more of a portion of a ligneous plant than 
what would be expected in a Gastromyces. At the top is a kind of 
false collar, the adherent portion of the peridium. The peridium is 
thick, rough, hard, flattened pyramidal in shape, (our illustration 
shows the broadside) ‘ ‘ rupturing irregularly ” (according to Under¬ 
wood), but we saw no specimen where the peridium had dehisced, 
simply where they had been broken off from the stem. Capillitium 
septate, branched. Spores sub-globose, warted. 5-6 mic. 
This curious plant was found by Mr. E. Bethel in 1897, and 
sent to Prof. Ellis with the following notes: 
“These plants are very odd looking in their native haunts; 
they grow on a soft alkaline adobe soil. Some of them had lifted 
themselves entirely out of the ground, while others had the stalk 
standing in about one inch of soil. They presented a very fantastic 
appearance, as there was little or no other vegetation about. 
Some of the specimens were very much bent, approximating a 
semi-circle, others were twisted like a corkscrew, with the portions 
of the stalk split and bent back. I think the chief factor in lifting 
the plant out of the ground is this twisting and bending back of the 
portions of the stem during dessication.’’ 
SYNONYMS. 
While we have no positive information, we feel very sure it is the same plant 
that was imperfectly described by Prof. Peck in 1895 as Battarrea attenuata. In 
the light of Prof. Underwood’s excellent description and illustration, we do not 
believe that anyone can read over Prof. Peck’s description without reaching the 
conclusion that it is the same plant. However, regardless of what the future may 
develop in this connection, we shall always advocate and use the name Prof. 
Underwood gave, on the merits of the case. 
(*) a Miss White states that Prof. Peck thinks the spores were introduced with imported tan- 
bark. That is not possible, for there was never a pound of any but local Chestnut bark used in 
that tannery. The hides were imported from South America, and if the plant grows there might 
be a solution of the mystery. The plant is only known from France, and is not recorded by 
Spegazzini, who has published the fungi of several South American countries. 
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