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CHlETOMIXJM elatum.
Tall Chcetomium.
C la s s a m O r d e r CRYPTOGAMIA PUNGI, L fo n— NAT . O r d . GASTROMYCI,
Link.
G EN ERIC CHARACTER.
Peridium subghhosum, membranaceum, pilis opacis undique obsessum, demum de-
hiscens. Sporidia subpellucida, massx gelatinosx immixta.
Peridium subglohose, membranaceous, every where covered with opaque
hairs, at length dehiscent. Sporidia somewhat pellucid, imbedded in a
inous mass.
S P E C IF IC c h a r a c t e r .
C h jstom ium e l a tu m ; peridio subturbinato, pilis basi brevinsculis simplicibus,
superne ramosis implexis longissimis; sporidiis ellipticis.
C. peridium somewhat turbinate, the hairs rather short at the base and
simple, very long, branched and entangled above; sporidia elliptical.
CHiETOMiuM elatum, Kunze, in Deutschl. Schrvaemme, Fasc. 8. p. 3. No. 184.
H ab. On dead or decayed culms of grasses, reeds, &c. Autumn to Spring.
Near Glasgow, Mr S coular. Abundantly on straw in a cellar in Edinburgh,
and elsewhere in the neighbourhood.
Whole plant scarcely a line in height, and less in b re ad th ; very dark
brown. Peridium minute, somewhat of a turbinate form, thin, very fragile,
thickly set with hair-like bristles, those towards the base pointing
downwards, simple, and rather short; those above very long, branched
a t the end, and somewhat entangled, the branches short, divaricated.
Sporidia numerous, elliptical, lying mixed in a gelatinous
mass.
My learned friend Professor K u n z e established this genus
in 1817, in the first part of “ Mykologische Hefte,” conducted
hy himself and M. S c h m i d t . He afterwards published
our present species in the “ Deutschland’s Schwaemine,” and
refers to an unpublished monograph of the genus. All the
species at present known, besides the one now represented, are
VOL. IV.
Mi