Xylaria. In a footnote on page 381 of his Summa Veg. Scand. he definitely cites Xylaria flabelliformis (Schw.) B., X. pumila Linn., X. comosa and X. collabens Mont., as pertaining to the subgenus Fracidia. In 1864 he transfers Sphaeria alutacea Pers., which he had formerly placed in Cordyceps (l. c.), to the subgenus Fracidia, where he writes it as follows: "Sphaeria s. Fracidia alutacea,42 but differing in color from the species of Xylaria first placed in this subgenus, as Cordyceps militaris differs from C. ophioglossoides." This short paper by FRIES is a critical review of CURREY'S Synopsis of the fructification of the compound Sphaeriae of the Hookerian Herbarium.43 CURREY (l. c., 260) employs the genus Sphaeria, which is divided into sections and divisions. FRIES in his annotations on certain species (l. c.) merely follows CURREY in writing Sphaeria as the genus, the s. probably standing for subgenus. It is therefore difficult to see how "Sph. s. Fracidia alutacea" can be taken as raising Fracidia from subgeneric to generic rank, and if the name is to be employed for a genus it should be used for those species of Xylaria first ascribed to it by FRIES and cited above. The TULASNES44 list Fracidia alutacea in their synonymy of Hypocrea alutacea, but this could not be taken as raising Fracidia to generic rank. Podostroma Karsten45 (1892) is therefore the generic name to be employed for our plant, instead of Podocrea Lindau46 (1897), although it was employed as a subgenus by SACCARDO (1. c.) in 1883; but SACCARDO did not include the Hypocrea alutacea in his subgenus. The International Botanical Congress at Vienna, June 1905, recommends that when the species of a subgenus are raised to generic rank, the name of the subgenus in which they were placed be employed, but this is a recommendation

42 Adnotata ad Cel. Fr. Currey dissertationem; Synopsis of the fructification of the Sphaeriae of the Hookerian Herbarium in Act. Soc. Linn. Lond., Vol. XXII, pp. 257-86 et 313-35. Bot. Zeit. 22:189, 190. 1864.

43 Trans. Linn. Soc. London 22:257–286. pls. 45-49. 1859; and “Synopsis of the fructification of the simple Sphaeriae," etc. Idem 313-335. pls. 57-59.

44 Selecta Carp. Fung. 35. 1865. The reference is "in Schlechtendalii Ephem. Bot. Berol., t. XXII (1864), p. 189, n. 22," which is TULASNE'S way of referring to Bot. Zeit. of which SCHLECHTENDAL was an editor. I wish to acknowledge here the aid of Dr. FARLOW of Harvard University and Dr. BRITTON of the New York Botanical Garden in straightening out this reference.

45 Hedwigia 31:294. 1892.

46 Engler und Prantl Pflanzenf. 11:364. 1897.

and therefore not mandatory. Fracidia, as shown above, was never raised to generic rank, and if it were to be it should be used for the species of Xylaria which FRIES first referred to it. KARSTEN might have used SACCARDO'S subgenus Podocrea in 1892, but since he founded the new genus Podostroma five years before LINDAU raised Podocrea to generic rank, Podestroma should stand. Furthermore it is very doubtful if any of the three species first placed by SACCARDO in his subgenus Podocrea are generically the same as Hypocrea alutacea, although SACCARDO47 suggests that Podostroma Karsten appears to be very like his section Podocrea.

In the light of this study, then, the name to be applied to Hypocrea alutacea (Pers.) Tul. with its principal synonymy would be as follows: Podostroma alutaceum (Pers.) Atkinson.

Clavaria simplex p. p. Schmiedel. Icon. et Analyt. 18–26. pl. 4, fig. 2, pl. 5, figs. 1-3. 1762, according to Tulasne.

Sphaeria alutacea Pers. Observ. Myc. 2:66. no. 99. pl. 1, fig. 2, a, b, C. 1797. Comm. de fung. Clavif. 12. 1797.

Sphaeria clavata Sowerby. Eng. Fung. 2: pl. 159. 1799.

Sphaeria alutacea Alb. & Schw. Consp. Fung. Lusat. Sup. 1. 1805. Sphaeria alutacea B Sphaeria albicans Pers. Syn. Method. Fung. 2. 1801. Sphaeria alutacea Fr. and B turgida Fr. Syst. Myc. 2:325. 1823.

Cordyceps alutacea Link. Handb. z. Erkenn. der Gewächse 3:347. no. 5.

1833.

Cordyceps alutacea Fr. Summa Veg. Scand. 381. 1849.

Cordyceps alutacea Berk.

Cordyceps alutacea Quélet.
Hypocrea alutacea Tul.

figs. 1-6. 1865. Hypocrea alutacea Peck. Hypocrea alutacea Cornu.

Outlines Brit. Fung. 382. pl. 23, fig. 6. 1860.
Champ. Jura et d. Vosges 487. 1869.
Selecta Fung. Carp. 1:62. 1861, and 3:35. pl. 4,

Rept. N. Y. State Mus. 26:84. 1894.

Bull. Soc. Bot. de France 26:33-35. 1879. Hypocrea alutacea Sacc. Syll. Fung. 2:530. 1883.

Hypocrea alutacea Winter, Rabenhorst's Krypt. Flora Deutschland, etc., Pilze 12:142. 1887.

? Podostroma leucopus Karsten. Hedwigia 31:294. 1892.

Hypocrea alutacea Schroeter. Krypt. Flora Schles., Pilze, Zweite Hälfte

3:272. 1894.

Podocrea alutacea Lindau. Engler und Prantl's Pflanzenf. 11:364. 1897. Hypocrea Lloydii Bresadola. Lloyd's Mycolog. Notes 9 (176):87. fig. 55.

1902.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y.

47 Syll. Fung. 11:355. 1895.