Studies on Some Fungi from North-Western Wyoming. I. Pyrenomycetes

Abstract

During the summer of 1940, the writer spent several months at the Rocky Mountain Field Station of the University of Michigan (Camp Davis), at the mouth of Hoback Callyon, some seventeen miles south of Jackson, Wyoming. During this period, collections and observations of the fungi of this region were made within a radius of somle forty or fifty miles. This area is very interesting from a mycological viewpoint. It includes the Jackson Hole area about the Snake River, the Teton National Park, with its rugged peaks, a number of other mountain ranges and a large area of high, dry, hilly sagebrush country. At first inspection this does not appear to be a region favorable for fungus growth. However, it is of special interest in several respects. The fleshy fungi, it is true, appear to be absent over a large part of the area and during most of the year, but even these do occur, and in abundance, after the very local, but often heavy showers of late summer. To collect these one must be on the right spot at the right time-a few days after such periodic showers. Only a few such opportunities were encountered, and no great attention was paid to fleshy forms. Parasitic fungi, such as leaf spots, rusts, etc., also abound. The region has a large and varied host flora which will yield an abundance of such parasites. Dr. Solheim's accounts and collections (11: pt. 1-4) have recorded many of these. A third flourishing fungous flora, and the one in which the writer was most interested, is that found on the stems of herbaceous and woody plants. The Pyrenomycetes and Fungi Imperfecti on dead stems grow luxuriantly, particularly at the higher elevations and in the mountain meadows. In these situations there is a heavy winter snow-