In the English Monograph we are repeatedly assured that this species is common in the United States. The statement is made possible only by the inclusion of the form originally described from America and truly abundant east of the Rocky Mountains, C. dictydioides Cke. & Balf.; C. intricata, by all accounts, just as preeminently the species of Europe. It is true that Schrader did not emphasize the parallel connecting threads by which later authorities distinguish the form; he had little occasion so to do, even did his figures intend accuracy in each detail, which they did not, and Rostafinski's, though his drawing is a diagram, certainly knew what he was doing. Cooke, in his list for Great Britain, quotes the Polish text without dissent, and Massee follows and illustrates; so that there can be no doubt as to what the European species is.
In any cribraria the presence or relative obsolesence, of the calyculus is of little taxonomic import since that structure is variable in every species. In the latest edition of Mr. Lister's work, the American form is entered as a variety in "hot-houses"; apparently adventitious; it is indeed related to the European form but is a geographic species.
9. Cribraria piriformis Schrader.
[Plate XVII]., Fig. 9; [Plate XIX]., Fig. 9.
- 1797. Cribraria piriformis Schrad., Nov. Gen. Pl., p. 4.
Sporangia gregarious, small, .3–.5 mm., turbinate or globose, erect, purplish brown, stipitate; stipe comparatively short, tapering upward, longitudinally furrowed, purple or brown; calyculus very well defined, about one-third the sporangium, not ribbed, flattened or even umbilicate below, the margin plainly denticulate, dusky brown; the net simple, the meshes large, triangular, with few free ends; the nodules small, globose or undifferentiated, slightly convex or flat; spore mass dull, yellowish brown; spores by transmitted light pale ochraceous or salmon-tinted, nearly smooth, 5–6 µ.
Schrader defined this beautiful form chiefly by its shape. This, though variable, is yet generally so far pyriform as to show distinct contraction toward the stipe. The well-defined calyculus is narrowed below and eroded or denticulate above. The cyanic tints due to the presence on the calyculus of radiating lines of purplish granules about one-half the size of the spores, the net open, uniform, the stipe rather stout, short, and distinctly furrowed, rising often from a small hypothallus—these are marks of this species. The net suggests C. tenella, but the latter species is much smaller, has a different stem, much longer and unfurrowed. The cup here is more nearly that of some form of C. intricata, but is better defined, passing into the net very abruptly by the simple intervention of projecting teeth.
Apparently rare. Our specimens are from New York, through the courtesy of Dr. Rex, Virginia, North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Colorado, and represent, as usual a modification of the European type, C. notabilis Rex. Miss Lister, Mon., 2nd ed., writes var. notabilis.
Colorado forms are remarkable for dense brown coloration.
10. Cribraria tenella Schrader.