LYMAN: STUDIES OF HYMENOMYCETES. 
187 
abundant production of basidiospores. Upon very hard agar tubes 
which contain but a small amount of nutrient material and upon sand 
to which some nutrient agar has been added, the convoluted, brain¬ 
like growths do not appear, and normal fructifications occasionally 
develop. Hence it seems evident that concentration of the sub¬ 
stratum stimulates the fungus to an excessive development of the 
hymenium at the expense of the sterile parts of the fructification. 
But it is to be noted that the variations cited always belong to the 
pileus or to the stipe, not to the hymenial layer. Culture conditions 
may modify the copiousness of the latter, but not its character. 
History oj Lentoclium. — The first notices of this peculiar fungus 
occur in Lea’s “Catalogue of plants of Cincinnati,” published in 1849, 
and Berkeley’s “Decades of fungi,” 1845. Both writers regarded it 
as an abnormal development of Lentinus tigrinus Fr. Lea (/. c., p. 
56) has the following record: “ Lentinus tigrinus, Fr. on dry stumps. 
Cincinnati, Nov., 1842,” and in a footnote he adds: “The gills have 
anastomosed in these species to such an extent as to form a solid w T ood 
mass.” Berkeley ( l. c., p. 38 of reprint), speaking of Lentinus tigrinus , 
makes this comment: “A most remarkable state of this fungus has 
been found by Mr. Lea (No. 245) in which the gills have anastomosed 
until the 'whole pileus and gills have become a hard solid mass. At 
first sight it has quite the appearance of a new genus; but I am con¬ 
vinced that it is merely a very curious, but monstrous state of our 
European species.” 
The fungus was met with in a number of localities in the north¬ 
eastern United States, and finally Morgan (“New North American 
fungi,” Journ. Cincinnati soc. nat. hist., vol. 18, p. 36-37, 1895), after 
encountering it repeatedly, became convinced of its specific value and 
described it as Lentodium squamulosum, the type of the new genus 
Lentodium, which he placed next to Lentinus in the Agaricaceae, at 
the same time calling attention to its resemblance to Secotium of the 
Gasteromycetes. Fie says: “I meet with this fungus nearly every 
season and it always has the form described above. I have never 
found a species of Lentinus tigrinus in this region and I have no infor¬ 
mation that the present fungus has ever occurred in Europe. I am 
of the opinion that it is a perfectly normal production; if not, the nor¬ 
mal and abnormal conditions must at some time occur together and 
the abnormal form must be accounted for.” 
Is Lentodium squamulosum an abnormality or a permanent species ?— 
