2. CLAVARIA PISTILLARIS 524

(YELLOW VAR.), =C. fusifor´mis= Sow.—_fusus_, a spindle. (Plate CXXXVIII, fig. 1, p. 522.) _Yellow_, cespitoso-connate, slightly firm, soon hollow. =Clubs= somewhat fusiform, simple and toothed, even, attenuated to the base which is of the same color. _Stevenson._ =Spores= pale yellow, globose, 4–5µ _Massee_. Closely resembles C. inæqualis Fl. Dan. Woods and pastures. August to November. Received from _E.B. Sterling_, Trenton, N.J., August, 1897. The clubs are 1⁄16 in. through, 4 in. high, light clear yellow, translucent, clustered in groups of four or five united at the base. Tender, well flavored, cooks easily. =C. auran´tio-cinnabari´no= Schw.—_aurantius_, orange; _cinnabaris_, vermilion. Orange-red; base white with a sub-hairy powder; clubs simple, flexuous, fleshy, somewhat tenacious, fasciculate, thickened in the middle and attenuated toward either end, at first cylindrical then compressed, 6–7 mm. thick, 2–4 in. high. Pennsylvania. On the ground among rhododendrons. Received from _E.B. Sterling_, Trenton, N.J. The plant when fresh is a beautiful rose color, inclining to orange at the tips. It reminds one of the peach-blow vase color in some of its shades. The single clubs, growing in cluster, to the height of four inches, graceful in outline, exquisitely shaded, are a sight one lingers over. While they invite the mycophagist to eat them, his voracity is checked by their beauty. They are tender and delicious. It is regrettable that thus far it has not been reported in quantity. =C. inæqual´is= Fl. Dan.—unequal. =Height= 2–3 in. club-shaped, yellow, gregarious, single or in loose tufts, fragile, _stuffed_. =Clubs= club-shaped or almost equal, simple, sometimes forked or variously cut at tip, one color. =Spores= colorless, elliptical, 9–10×5µ _Massee_. Woods and pastures. August to October. Distinguished from C. fusiformis by the tips not being sharp-pointed and colored. North Carolina, _Schweinitz_; New Jersey, _Sterling_. This Clavaria is quite common in New Jersey. Its clusters are clear bright yellow and conspicuously pretty. The clubs are translucent and smooth. Excepting in color it resembles C. aurantio-cinnabarino. In the many specimens seen there was nothing to suggest the propriety of the name, excepting height of clubs. A dish of it is a delicacy. =C. vermicula´ris= Scop.—_vermis_, a worm. =Height= 1–2½ in., white, tufted. =Clubs= simple, quill-shaped, stuffed, awl-shaped, brittle, pointed. =Spores= white, elliptical, 4×3µ _Massee_. New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Thin grassy woods and among grass. July to October. Edible. _Cordier._ Common in southern New Jersey, and in warm soils from June to frost. When growing among grass it is not conspicuous and is often missed unless specially sought for. Its purity, its choice of refreshing abode, its excellent qualities, make it select among Clavaria. HOLOCO´RYNE. _Gr_—entire; _Gr_—a club. Clubs almost simple, distinct at the base. =C. pistillar´is= L.—_pistillum_, a pestle. (Plate CXXXVIII, figs. 2, 3, p. 522.) =Height= 2–12 in., up to 1 in. and more thick, color light yellow, ochraceous, brownish, chocolate. =Clubs= Indian-club shape, ovate-rounded, puckered at top, simple, fleshy, white within, spongy, exterior smooth or more or less wrinkled, usually with smooth base. =Spores= white, 10×5µ _W.G.S._; 9–11×5–6µ _Massee_. Mixed woods, moss and grassy places. August until November. North Carolina, Pennsylvania, California, Alabama. Eaten in Poland, Russia and Germany. The writer first found this truly club-like species in West Virginia in 1882, and ate it. But few specimens were found, and those of a dark chocolate color. At Mount Gretna in 1897 and 1898 the yellow variety grew in considerable quantity from July until after frost. The largest specimen found measured 5½ in. and was 1 in. in diameter at its thickest part. The average height is 2½ in. Both varieties grew in mixed woods from the leaf-covered ground. They are often clustered, four or five together, and of different sizes. The surface, especially of the dark variety, is regularly, vertically wrinkled, truncated in few places, very much resembling that of the Craterellus cantharellus. The stems of both are white. The apex of the clubs is folded inward as though pulled by drawing-strings. The flesh is soft, white, fine grained. A slight bitter is present in the dark variety, when raw, which entirely disappears upon cooking. This is one of the best of Clavariæ. =C. clava´ta= Pk. Simple, straight, clavate, obtuse, smooth, not hollow, yellow when fresh, rugose-wrinkled and orange-colored when dry, 4–6 lines high. Damp shaded banks by road-sides. Sandlake. June. _Peck_, 25th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Patches of it are conspicuous—golden-hued upon somber background. They are seen at Eagle’s Mere, Mt. Gretna, and on the Springton Hills, Pa., along wooded road-sides. Raw, they have a mild, pleasant flavor, and have the same when cooked. A small species seldom found in sufficient quantity to make a comforting dish. [Illustration] FAMILY VI.—=TREMELLA´CEÆ= Fr. Whole fungus homogeneous, gelatinous, shrivelling when dry, reviving when moistened, pervaded internally with branched filaments, terminating toward the surface all round in sporophores. Spores transparent, from globose to sausage-shape and curved, sometimes septate. _Fries._ The Tremellaceæ, as their name signifies, tremble, because jelly-like when moist. They are hard, tough, horny when dry, but swell and become gelatinous when wet. In the typical genus, Tremella, there is often but little consistency. Whoever has climbed an old rail fence on a rainy day has had the doubtful pleasure of acquaintance with some of them. Sections for the microscope are obtainable by hardening them in alcohol. There are several edible species in the family. They are good in soups, giving them flavor and body, and some are excellent when stewed. SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. Sub-Family—=Auricularieæ=. Page 528. AURICULARIA. Broadly attached, margin free and reflexed. (No edible species reported.) HIRNEOLA. Page 528. Cartilaginous, ear-shaped, attached by a point. Sub-Family—=Tremellineæ=. Page 529. EXIDIA. Cup-shaped, truncate, or irregularly lobed; spores reniform, producing curved sporidiola on germination. (No edible species reported.) ULOCOLLA. Pulvinate and gyrose; spores reniform, producing rod-shaped sporidiola on germination. (No edible species reported.) TREMELLA. Page 529. Brain-like or lobed; spores globose or ovoid. NÆMATELIA. Firm, convex, with a central hard nucleus. (No edible species reported.) GYROCEPHALUS. Erect, spathulate. (No edible species reported.) TREMELLEDON. Page 533. Gelatinous, tremelloid, fan-shaped, fleshy; hymenium with distinct spines. Sub-Family—=Dacryomyceteæ=. DACRYOMYCES. Small, pulvinate and gyrose. (No edible species reported.) GUEPINIA. Irregularly cup-shaped, hymenium on one surface only. (No edible species reported.) DACRYOPSIS. Hymenium at the apex of a short stem, bearing conidia and spores. (No edible species reported.) DITIOLA. Stem distinct, bearing the hymenium at its expanded apex. (No edible species reported.) APYRENIUM. Subglobose or lobed, hollow. (No edible species reported.) CALOCERA. Subcylindrical and erect, simple or branched (No edible species reported.) Sub-Family—=Auricularieæ=. =HIRNE´OLA= Fr. _Hirnea_, a small jug. Gelatinous, rather cartilaginous, soft and tremulous when moist, but not distended with jelly, horny when dry, becoming somewhat cartilaginous when moistened. The hard skin forming the hymenium, which covers the cup-shaped cavity and is of a different color, can be separated entire after a thorough soaking in water. =Sporophores= (spore-bearing processes) not involved in jelly. =Spores= oblong, curved. _Fries._ A very peculiar and distinct genus separated from the neighboring genera by its disk-like, somewhat cup-shaped cavity and by its not being distended with jelly. (Plate CXLIII.) [Illustration: HIRNEOLA AURICULA-JUDEA. About two-thirds nat. size. ] =H. auri´cula—Jude´a= (Linn.) Berk.—Jew’s ear. 1–4 in. across, thin, and flexible when moist, hard when dry, date-brown or blackish. =Hymenium= venoso-plicate (vein-plaited), forming irregular depressions such as are in the ear, yellowish-gray or grayish beneath and hairy. The large depressions or corrugations branch from smaller ones near the center of the plant. =Spores= 20–25×7–9µ _Massee_. H. auricula-Judea is not very particular in the trees it patronizes. Elm, maple, hickory, balsam-fir, spruce, alder bear it. When the plant grows on upright timber it usually turns upward. It is not generally reported in the United States. Ohio, Maryland, _Miss Banning_; Indiana, _H.I. Miller_; New York, _Peck_; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, _McIlvaine_. Extensively used in China, where eating it probably antedates all European records by several thousand years. It is brought there dried from Tahiti in great quantities and made into soup. The writer has found and eaten several specimens of it. It is not as tender as other gelatinous species, but it is an oddity that pleases. Sub-Family—=Tremellineæ=. =TREMEL´LA= Dill. _Tremo_—to tremble. Distended with jelly when moist, tremulous, without a defined margin and without nipple-like elevations. Spore-bearing processes globose, becoming divided into four parts, each division producing an elongated free point terminating in a simple spore. _Fries._ Distinguished by its peculiarly convoluted habit and jelly-like substance, which is more or less inclined to be cartilaginous. Exidia, similar in form, is separated by possessing minute nipple-like elevations and Hirneola by its distinct difference in form. Generally growing on dead wood; some species are found on trees and others on the ground, etc. Old tradition, in many countries, attests that the Tremellas are Fairy bread, and T. albida the choicest baking. Pretty, indeed, must have been the feasts when piles of such purity filled the board, and the brilliant Pezizae were wassail cups. They are better suited to Fairy appetites than to those of mortals; being watery their nutritive value is small. Nevertheless they have dainty flavor. So far as tested no suspicion rests upon Tremellæ. ANALYSIS OF TRIBES. MESENTERIFOR´MES (_Gr_—the mesentery). Page 530. Gelatinous inclining to cartilaginous, foliaceous, naked. CEREBRINÆ (_cerebrum_, the brain). Page 530. Firm, then pulpy, somewhat pruinose with the spores. CRUSTA´CEÆ (_crusta_, a crust). Diffused, becoming plane. TUBERCULIFOR´MES (_tuberculum_, a little tuber). Small, somewhat erumpent. I.—MESENTERIFOR´MES. Gelatinous, inclining to cartilaginous. =T. fimbria´ta= Pers.—_fimbriæ_, fringe. Olivaceous inclining to black, cespitose, clusters 2–3 in. high and even broader, _erect, corrugated_; _lobes_ flaccid, incised at the margin, _undulately fringed_. When soaked with water it has a dark tawny tinge. _Stevenson._ =Spores= subpyriform. On roots, dead branches, stumps, rails, etc. From July to December, 1898, tufts five inches in diameter grew from an oak stump close by the writer’s cottage at Mt. Gretna, Pa. These tufts dried, and revived after rain into a gelatinous condition. They were nibbled at raw, and several were cooked. Tufts were found elsewhere in the same woods and eaten by others. They were unanimously approved. The species dries hard, like thin glue, but is darker. A dried piece swells in the mouth, grows tough, and has but little taste. Flavor develops in cooking. =T. lutes´cens= Pers.—_luteus_, yellow. _Yellowish_, cespitose, small, cluster ½-1 in. broad, very soft, circling in wavy, undulating folds; lobes entire, naked. Inclining to be fluid. Whitish when young. _Stevenson._ =Spores= subglobose, 12–16µ diameter _Massee_. North Carolina, common. _Curtis._ On decaying branches, stumps, etc. July to February. It dries and revives, or swells with moisture, very soft and tremulous. Edible. _Leuba._ II.—CEREBRINÆ. Firm then pulpy, etc. (Plate CXLIV.) [Illustration: TREMELLA MESENTERICA. Natural size. ] =T. mesenter´ica= Retz. _Gr_—the mesentary. Gelatinous but firm, bright orange-yellow, variously contorted; lobes short, smooth, pruinose with the white spores at maturity. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 6–9µ diameter; conidia 1–1.5µ diameter. On dead branches. Very variable in form but known by the bright orange color. From ½-2 in. across. _Massee._ North Carolina. Common, edible. _Curtis_; California, Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. _McIlvaine._ Dr. J.R. Weist, Richmond, Ind., November, 1898, sent me fine specimens. Very common as an apparent exudation from sticks, branches and rails. It can usually be collected in quantity from June until far into the winter. It can be found in every month in the year. During the civil war the writer’s first attempt at making a dish of cornstarch resulted in getting it _into knots_. T. mesenterica, when stewed, very much resembles these same knots. It has a mild, woody flavor, slightly sweet, and is good. (Plate CXLIV_a_.) [Illustration: TREMELLA MYCETOPHILA on COLLYBIA DRYOPHILA. (After Peck.) ] =T. myceto´phila= Pk. (Plate CXLIV_a_.) Suborbicular, depressed, circling in folds, tremelloid-fleshy, slightly pruinose, yellowish or pallid, 4–8 lines broad. _Peck_, 28th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Haddonfield, N.J., August, 1895. _McIlvaine._ Professor Peck notes it as found parasitic upon Collybia dryophila. I found T. mycetophila growing parasitic upon Marasmius oreades, August,