172 BASIDIOMYCETES. 



milky juice, which often is very acid. L. deliciosus has red-yellow milky juice, 

 and is of a pleasant flavour. L. torminosus is poisonous. 



4. Hygrophorei. Lamella thick and waxy, widely separated ; spores 

 white. Many species of Hygrophorus have brightly-coloured pileus and grow 

 among the grass on moors and commons. Nyctalis is parasitic on larger Toad- 

 stools. It is remarkable for its abundant formation of chlamydospores, whilst 

 the basidiospores are little developed. 



5. Coprinei. Fruit-bodies very soft, quickly perishable ; lamellae membran- 

 ous and deliquescent. The basidia are separated from each other by para- 

 physes. Coprinus has coal-black spores, grows on manure, and sometimes 

 developes sclerotia. 



6. Paxillei. Fruit-body fleshy ; lamellrc easily detached from the pileus and 

 reticulately-joined near the stalk. They form a connecting link between the 

 Agaricacere and Boletus. 



7. Cantharellei. Lamellfe reduced to dichotomously-divided folds, decur- 

 rent on the stalk. Cantharellus cibarius (Fig. 175) is yolk-yellow, and grows on 

 the ground in woods (edible). It is allied to Craterellus. 



Family 3. Phalloidese. 



The fruit-bodies before they are ripe are spherical or ovoid, and 

 enclosed by a fleslty covering, the peridium, which, is perforated at 

 maturity and remains as a sheath (Fig. 179) ; the fruit-bodies 

 are hemiangiocarpic. 



Order 1. Phallacese (Stink-horns). The peridium has a 

 complicated structure and is composed of three layers, the in- 

 termediate one being thick and gelatinous. The gleba (the tissue 

 which bears the hymenium) is situated upon a peculiar receptacle 

 which expands into a porous stalk and by its sudden distension, 

 rupturing the peridium, elevates the gleba and hymenium above 

 the peridium, which remains as a sheath. The gleba becomes 

 gelatinous and dissolves away as drops. To this order belong many 

 peculiar and often brightly coloured forms, which are natives of 

 the Southern Hemisphere. 



Phallus impudicus (Stink-horn) (Fig. 179), has a fruit-body which at first is 

 white, heavy, and soft, and resembles a hen's egg in shape and size. The peri- 

 dium is divided into three layers (Fig. 179 e, g,f) of which the external and 

 internal are membranous, and the middle one very thick and gelatinous ; each 

 of these has again a laminated structure. The peridium when ruptured re- 

 mains as a sheath (k) at the base of the stalk. The receptacle at first is 

 strongly compressed (h) but afterwards expands into a long stalk (I) which 

 bears the conical gleba (?). Prior to the rupture of the peridium the gleba 

 consists of a greenish mass ((') which, when exposed, emits a carrion-like stench 

 serving to attract flies, by whose agency the spores are distributed. It is found 

 commonly in hedgerows and in woods, growing on the ground. The much 



