220 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



moringanus; i. e., moringanus growing on Moringa pterygosper?na 3 ami 

 partaking of its odour, 



Description. 



Pileus. — Covered with fine down when young. Smooth when full- 

 grown ; partly membranaceous, partly spongy, especially in the centre ; 

 revolute, cream-coloured, varying from one inch to thr^e inches in 

 length, £ to 4 inches in breadth ; \ inch in thickness. Yeil evanes- 

 cent, very finely fibrillar when young ; disappearing very early. 

 Ring absent. 



Stem. — ^ to one inch long, lateral, confluent and homogeneous with 

 the hymenophore, cream-coloured ; membranaceous, spongy in the 

 centre, often repand. Margin entire in young specimens, deeply 

 curved forward ; in full grown specimens, deeply involute, sinuate, 

 and cracked. 



QUls. — Cream-coloured; of two kinds, long and short ; breadth 

 \ inch ; rather crowded, with tough trama of a spongy kind. The 

 long gills decurrent, gradually lost in the substance of the stem all 

 the way down ; the short gills, broadly and distinctly rounded behind, 

 and quite in contrast with the other known species of this Agaric 

 growing on the Moringa or elsewhere. 



Habitat. — Growing direct from the cambium layer. Mycelium firm 

 white. The habit of the fungus is caespitose. 

 Spores *003 X -007 m.m., elliptical. 

 Odour that of the plant. 



Bemarks. —The points of interest connected with this species are 

 chiefly with reference to its habitat and its odour. I have not yet 

 come across a fungus growing from the cambium layer and so quick- 

 ly, for it appeared that the tree had been cut down the day previous. 

 It is verv seldom that a parasitic fungus partakes of the odour pecu- 

 liar to its host. The Drumstick tree is a familiar figure in the 

 Konkan fields and kitchen gardens. It is largely cultivated for its 

 twisted trilateral follicles wrongly called " pods," which contain a 

 rich fleshy pulp. This pulp when cooked with butter, salt and pepper 

 yields an agreeable and by no means unwholesome dish. Its root 

 is used in the place of Horse-raddish at English tables in India. 

 Though a little coarse in fibre, the scrapings of the root are quite ae 



