The North American Mucorales—I

The American species have never been studied systematically, although local and state lists of fungi contain the names of the more common species. Pound* describes the American genera and enumerates a few species. The splendid work of Blakesleet deals entirely with zygospore formation. The synonymy is exceedingly complicated and the status of many described species cannot be definitely determined. Lendnert reports seventeen imperfectly described species in the genus Mucor appearing from I884 to I906. The rule of priority has frequently been ignored and the same name has been used for different species. Fischer§ has unraveled the intricate synonymy of the European species. Dried specimens soon lose their taxonomic characters, and therefore herbarium material, even when available, is seldom satisfactory for the exact determination of the specimens. The viability of the spores is lost in three to ten months and consequently cultures cannot be made from old material in order to establish the true identity of the specimens. While this paper is intended primarily to enumerate only species seen and examined by the writer, yet, for the purpose of giving a better survey of the American species, a few have been admitted on the authority cited under Species Reported. * Minn. Bot. Studies I: 87-I04. 1894. t Proc. Am. Acad. 40: 205-319. 1904. t Les Mucorinees de la Suisse oo00. 908. § Rabenh. Krypt. Fl. 1892. 125