MB. BERKELEY ON SOME ENTOMOGENOUS SPH-3EBI^!. 157 



the nutritive qualities of the two ferns in question go, which con- 

 sider the New Zealand Bracken as belonging to the same species 

 with our own. 



Bread is said to be made of the roots of Pteris aquilina in 

 Normandy and Siberia. "Wahlenberg, however, states that, as far 

 as he has seen, the plant is confined to one locality in Lapland. 

 It is mentioned by Pallas in his ' Iter Sibiricum.' 



On some Entomogenous Sphceria. 

 By the Eev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A., F.L.S. 

 [Read Nov. 4th, 1856.] 

 No country in the world seems to abound more in Fungi than the 

 United States. I have something approaching to 5000 species in 

 my Herbarium from two or three of the Southern States alone, 

 and it is quite certain, from the new forms which are constantly 

 occurring, that the number is far from being exhausted. Many 

 of the species are identical with European forms, but there is a 

 considerable number which have at present occurred nowhere 

 else. Amongst the most curious and interesting of these are the 

 entomogenous species of which I now lay a short description before 

 the Society. None of these are completely isolated from the 

 rest, for Gordyceps palustris resembles G. sobolifera ; G. stylophora 

 and acicularis are connected through G. Bavenelii with G. sinensis ; 

 and G. armeniaca calls to mind the apricot-coloured G. myrmeco- 

 phila. Besides these species I have received G. militaris from 

 South Carolina, where G. entomorrhiza also occurs under a very 

 fine form. 



The entomogenous species of Gordyceps, as at present known, 

 are distributed as follow : — 



2. G. militaris and entomorrhiza are common to Europe and the 

 United States. 



1. G. myrmecopMla is found in England and Italy. 



1. G. gracilis in Scotland and Algiers. 



1. G. sinensis in China, where it is used as a drug. 



2. G. Gunnii and Taylori in Australia. 



2. C. Sinclairii and Hobertsii in New Zealand. 

 2. G. racemosa an&falcata at Myrong in the Khazia Mountains 

 of Bengal. 



1. G. armeniaca in South Carolina. , 



2. G. sobolifera and sphecocephala in the "West Indies. 

 1. G. larvata in Cayenne. 



