CONIFERAE. Dacrydium cupressinum: Auckland, Mountain Road, Henderson Valley, 200 m. Pinus radiata: Auckland, Mt. Te Aroha, 300 m; Waiotapu, 500 m. Nelson, Appleby, 30 m. South Australia, National Park; Mt. Lofty. Podocarpus hallii Wellington, National Park, 1,100 m. LAURACEAE. Beilschmiedia tawa: Auckland, Lake Rotoehu, 400 m. UNKNOWN HOST. South Australia, National Park.

Hymenophore annual, membranous, adherent, effused forming irregularly linear areas 5-15 x 2-3.5 cm; hymenial surface cream, drying sulphur yellow or naples-yellow, at first floccose, becoming even, at length irregularly areolately creviced; margin thinning out, fibrillose, white or cream, loosely attached. Context cream, 150-100 µm thick, basal layer of a few repent hyphae, intermediate layer of intertwined hyphae dense below, loosely arranged beneath the subhymenium; generative hyphae 3.5-4.5 µm diameter, walls 0.25 µm thick, hyaline or tinted, encrusted with fine deciduous crystals, with clamp connections. Metuloids arising from the subhymenium, cylindrical, aculeate or slightly fusiform, projecting to 55 µm, with rounded slightly tapered apices, 50-80 x 4-6 µm, 2-4 transversely septate, with clamp connections at septa, walls encrusted, many becoming naked. Hymenial layer to 60 µm deep, a dense palisade of basidia, paraphyses, and metuloids. Basidia subclavate, 12-18 x 4-4.5 µm, bearing 4 spores; sterigmata erect, slender, to 5 µm long. Paraphyses subclavate, 10-15 x 3.5-4 µm. Spores elliptical, apiculate, 4-1.5 x 2-2.5 µm, walls smooth, hyaline or tinted, 0.1 µm thick.

DISTRIBUTION: Europe, Great Britain, North America, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand.

HABITAT: Effused on bark or decayed wood, humus, or soil.

Characters of the species are the bright yellow colour, loose context composed of intertwined hyphae branching at a wide angle and encrusted with delicate deciduous crystals, corymbose arrangement of basidia and paraphyses, slender, aculeate, transversely septate metuloids with walls encrusted with delicate deciduous crystals, and small spores with walls hyaline or tinted yellow in a spore print. Usually metuloids have been described as smooth, probably because when sections are placed in potassium hydroxide solutions crystals disappear; but crystals are present on most, as may be seen when sections are mounted in lactic acid solutions. Following Karsten, Burt (1917, p. 263) discussed the species under Coniophora; but as Rogers & Jackson (1943, p. 275) have shown, its only resemblance to members of that genus are the tinted spore walls. As metuloids are encrusted, it is evident the species is a Peniophora, related to P. aspera. Most synonyms are given on the authority of Rogers & Jackson (1943, p. 274).

TYPE LOCALITY: Europe.