xiii, c, 4 Brown: Fungi Cultivated by Termites 229 



THE AGARIC 



Petch 14 describes in considerable detail the agaric, Collybia 

 albuminosa (Berk.) Petch, which grows from the actual combs 

 in the termite nests. He 15 makes the following statements con- 

 cerning its habitat : 



The agaric arises from the nest while it is still inhabited by the ter- 

 mites. It seldom appears on the actual termite hill, but usually among 

 the grass round the base. At Peradeniya it is more frequently found 

 growing from subterranean nests which have not yet attained the hill 

 stage, and whose presence is indicated by a few small chimneys only. 



Its geographic distribution is summarized by Petch 1<! as 

 follows : 



The occurrence of agarics in or around termite nests has been recorded 

 from Ceylon, India, Singapore, Java, Borneo, and Brazil. The species in 

 question is usually regarded as edible, and for that reason it has fre- 

 quently been included in collections of tropical agarics; it is, for example, 

 due to that fact that we have the records relating to termite nests in 

 India. The names under which the agaric has been described differ in dif- 

 ferent countries, and even from the same country it has had several names 

 bestowed upon it, but from a comparison of the descriptions, and the 

 type specimens in some cases, it is quite certain that the species which 

 develops from termite nests is the same in all the countries in which it 

 has been found up to the present. 



Although this fungus is very common on termite nests, it has 

 not been grown from the combs removed from the nests. 



The agaric occurs in two forms, identical so far as pilei are 

 concerned, but differing in the character of the stalk. In one 

 form the stalk is almost uniform in diameter throughout. In the 

 other the lower part of the stalk is about two millimeters in 

 diameter, but as it ascends to the soil it expands up to 1-2 centi- 

 meters in diameter. 



While in Los Bafios, my attention was called by Doctor E. B. 

 Copeland to an agaric which appeared to be growing from the 

 ground but which he had traced to termite combs in subter- 

 ranean nests. This fungus showed two forms which Doctor 

 Copeland has identified as the two forms of the agaric described 

 by Petch from Ceylon. At Los Bafios, as in Ceylon, this fungus 

 appears to grow only from termite nests, and to be always 

 connected with the combs. 



u Petch, T., The fungi of certain termite nests, Ann. Bot. Gard. Pera- 

 deniya 3 (1906) 185-270, fig. S. 



15 Petch, T., Termite fungi: A resume, Ann. Bot. Gard. Peradeniya 5 

 (1913) 303-341. 



16 Petch, T., op. cit. 



