MYCOLOGICAL NOTES 
C. G. LLOYD 
Page 1047 
Clavaria laciniata. can be held as intermediate between 
C lav an a rugosa and. Clavaria cristata. All three agree in globose 
smooth spores, 8-10 mic . , and the habitat is acerous woods. 
XYLARIA HELOIDEA A. M. BOTTOMLEY, SOUTH AFRICA (Pig. 1937 
and Pig, 1938 enlarged sixfold ).- This is the first time we have 
received this little species which was well illustrated from Java by 
Penzig. Its characters are the small size, the globose head consist— 
ing of a few protruding perithecia, spores 6 X 18, I think this is 
the first record outside of the original. 
MELANOGASTER MOLLIS PROM SIMON DAVIS, WYOMING.-(Pig * 1939 ).- 
Globose, an inch or .more in diameter, when wet very soft and flabby 
collapsing and becoming almost hallow in drying. Peridium reddish 
brown, smooth, with no attached fibrils. Gleba cells mostly de¬ 
liquescent, only fragments which are white remain in soaked gleba. 
When soaked the interior is filled with a.soft, gelatinous mass, 
consisting mostly of spores and fragments of the cell walls. After 
soaking an hour or so it becomes liquescent. Color of the wet gleba 
is black to the eye but brown under the miscoscope. Spores ellip¬ 
tical, mostly 4 X 6, some 5X8, obtuse at both ends, smooth, pale 
brown color. There is a possibility that this is Melanogaster tub¬ 
er iformis of Europe which has a soft black gleba from accounts. 
Certainly the spores have no resemblance at all to the original 
figure of Corda but these were shown by Tulasne to be only a bur¬ 
lesque. Nor do these plants have any external fibrils. The spores, 
5X8 (largest ) are smaller than those of the European plant, both 
of Tulasne’s and Hesse’s record, (6 l/2 X 9-12, Tulasne: 6 X 10, 
Hesse. ) and are not of the shape stated and shown by Tulasne. 
Harkness records Melanogaster tuberiformis.. in California but he only 
reproduced Corda* s original description - ’’spores deorsum attenuatis" 
which he should have known was., a bad mistake at the start and like 
all of Harkness' work and records no reliance can be placed on any 
of it. The original Melanogaster species has permanent gleba cells. 
Whether it is advisable to include plants with deliquescent gleba 
walls as appears to have been done with Melanogaster tuberiformis 
is a question. 
Mr. Davis kindly furnishes the following collection notes: 
"These specimens were found in black, vegetable humus in a thick 
bunch of greasewood, they were buried in the ground, only the tops 
were exposed. At first sight they seemed to be knots at the base of 
the greasewood. They are not easily seen for they are the color of 
the surrounding earth and lie close to the greasewood. On drying 
they gave a disagreeable, rancid odor and tried hard to deliquesce, 
but I watched them carefully, kept turning them over and saved all. 
There was no difference in color. The little and big ones were ex¬ 
actly alike in color. The gleba of the dried plant was black to the 
eye but a very deep brown when viewed in a strong light. It took 
48 hours to get them to begin to dry on top of a range and another 
48 hours before I deemed it safe to wrap them up" 
TYLOSTOMA TRANSVAALII FROM A. M. BOTTOMLEY, SOUTH AFRICA 
(Fig. 1940).- Peridium pale, 1 l/z-2 cm. in diameter. Cortex 
dark, warty breaking away and leaving the peridium smooth. 
