ON TWO HYMENOMYCETOUS FUNGI. 203 
parietibus ab hymenophoro nascentibus tandem discretis. 
Sporidia minuta copiosissima ovata nigra immixtis floccis 
tenuibus pellucidis parce ramosis cellulas implentia. Nucleus 
unus alterve globosus.—Fungus boletiformis terrestris fcedis- 
sime inquinans. Nomen a zoXvzXoxos formavi. 
Polyplocium inguinans. (Tan. vr. vir.) 
In ripas fluvii Orange river dicti in Africa australi detexe- 
runt Domini Burke et Zeyher. 
Volva universal, clothing the base of the stem and pileus, 
smooth, white, at length bursting irregularly, and forming a 
broad ragged persistent cup, nearly 3 inches broad. Stem 
obese below, nearly six inches high, 23 inches thick at the 
point from whence the volva is given off, attenuated upwards, 
So as to be 1 inch thick where it joins the pileus into which 
it gradually expands, soft and elastic, consisting of closely 
compacted flaccid fibres, arranged more or less in fascicles, 
which terminate abruptly at the sides. Pileus 5 inches 
_ broad, hemispherical, clothed with the adnate volva, smooth, 
rather wrinkled, and areolate when dry, clothed beneath 
exactly as in Boletus with the cellular hymenium. The cells 
Proceed from the substance of the pileus, and are arranged 
More or less vertically. In a portion of the hymenium they 
Separate into a number of coarse tooth-like processes, while 
in other parts the connexion of the cells is not broken ; the 
Whole hymenium at length easily separates from the pileus, 
exactly as that of Boletus. The cells are filled with an im- 
mense number of minute, dark purple-brown, or almost 
black sporidia, mixed with copious, pale, pellucid, slightly- 
. branched, inarticulate flocci. The sporidia are ovate, with 
. 9ne or rarely two globose nuclei about =; of an inch in 
liameter. he thickness of the flocci is somewhat less than 
_ that of the sporidia. 
at may now be considered as a well-established fact, that 
: the puff-ball group, however different in their mature state, 
" form a part of the vast division of Hymenomycetes. In 
. Ry memoir on the subject, I have stated that I was first led | 
to suspect this to be the case, by the resemblance between - 
