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SCLEROTIUM s u b t e r r a n e u m .
Orange Sclerotium.
C l a s s a n d O r d e r CRYPTOGAMIA FUNGI, A m » .— N a t . O r d . GASTROMYCI^
Link,, Grev.
GEN ERIC CHARACTER.
Massa subghbosa aut difformis, intus homogénea, vesiculosa, carnosa, vel cornea.
(Sporulce incognitæ.)
A subglobose or shapeless mass, within homogeneous, vesiculose, fleshy or
corneous. (Sporules have not been discovered.)
S P E C IF IC CHARACTER.
S c l e r o t i u m subterraneum ; gregarium, spingiosum, rotundaturn sed valde in-
æquale quandoque lobatum ; colore omnino aureo-Jlavo vel albido.
Sc. gregarious, spongy, rounded but very unequal, sometimes lobed ; colour
wholly orange-yellow or whitish.
S c l e r o t i u m s u b t e r r a n e u m , Tode, Meckl. Fung. 1 . p. 3. t . 1. f. 5 . Alb. et
Schwein. p. 73.—De Cand. in Mem. du Mus. v. 2. p. 401. No. S.— Grev.
Fl. Edin. p. 461.
S c l e r o t i u m Muscorum, Pers. Syn. Fung. p. 120.— Schwem. Syn. Fung.
Carol. No. 308.
H ab. Attached to the roots or decaying stems of mosses, or on dead wood
and roots of trees beneath the surface of the soil. Summit of Ben-
Reishapol, W. C. T r e v e l y a n , Esq. On various Highland mountains,
chiefly growing on Trichostomum lanuginosum. Between Newhaven and
Caroline Park, near Edinburgh, on Hypnum squarrosum. Autumn.
Aggregated, rounded, extremely irregular, tuberculated or lobed, fine orange,
yellowish or whitish; of a spongy yet firm substance, soUd, homogeneous
throughout, and of a similar colour; varying in size from 1 line or less
to 4 or 5 lines in diameter, the whitish variety being the largest.
This species of Sclerotium is probably of frequent occurrence,
hut has not been often observed either in this country or
on the Continent. Its peculiar place of growth is sufficient to
account for the paucity of information concerning it. In the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh, I have repeatedly met with it,