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Gregarious, often tufted and crowded, 1-3 inches in height or even more, gelatinous,
in old age often drying up and becoming corneous. Pileus
scarcely ever an inch in breadth, tumid, lubricous, thickish, somewhat
plane, but quickly rounded towards the margin, which is rather undulate,
and, if not in perfection, more or less contracted towards the stipes; this
is not the case when the pileus is very tumid, and exactly mature (vide
Fig. 2.), a state in which it remains a very short time. Interior of the
pileus very gelatinous and moist, soon contracting from the evaporation
of the moisture, and in age hard, variously wrinkled and distorted,,and
almost greenish-black. Colour mostly olivaceous, but varying to different
shades of green. Hymenium occupying the whole surface and even margin.
Sporuliferous cells elongate, linear-clavate, the sporules jointed,
about 5 in each ceU. Stipes yellow, or tinged with green, subequal, solid,
or hollow (mostly the latter in old plants), passing into the pileus,
sometimes slightly pitted, often compressed, especially in age, when it
becomes of a deeper yellow, and corneous.
Few Fungi have received a greater number of generic
names than the present one ; and it may also be said that few
assume so many appearances, depending on age alone. In the
mature state, however, I apprehend there can be no difficulty
in recognizing it, though the colour is apt to vary ; and in the
description, I have put the botanist on his guard against the
change which is induced by old age.
A singular variety is figured by H o lm s k io ld , and which
is copied into the System of N e e s a b E s e n b e c k , having a
long attenuated root or rather base of the stem. Other curious
varieties are also given by P e r s o o n , in the ninth Plate of his
Mycologia Europæa.
Helvella clavata of W i t h e r i n g , which D e C a n d o l i .e
and F r i e s have quoted, certainly belongs, as Mr P u r t o n bas
justly remarked, to Spathularia flavida of P e r s o o n .
This is a small genus, and is divided by F r i e s into two
sections.
I. C trc uLA R iA . Pileus carnosus, margine revolutus.
II. H y g e o m i t r a . Pileus gelatinosus, suhclavatus.
Our plant belongs to the second, and we have one other
British species ( i . infundibuliformis Helvella, Sow.), which
belongs to the first.
Fig. 1. Plants in different stages o f growth, o f the most commmi variety. Fig. 2.
A mature plant, with a section <ff the pileus. Fig. 3. Sporuliferous cells,
Fig. 4. Sporules.