496 DECADES OF FUNGI. 
inch thick, firm and solid, much attenuated below, greyish 
brown slightly tinged with purple, clothed with minute 
velvety meal. 
Gills rather distant, white, (ochraceous when dry), entire, 
decurrent, not forked. 
Allied to L. scleropus, but differing in its less woody stem, 
entire gills, even margin, and other points. i 
It varies with a short somewhat bulbous stem. 
Tas. XIX. f. 3. L. obnubilus, nat. size. 
167. L. cartilagineus, n. sp.; cæspitoso-gregarius e Com- . 
muni basi enascens; pileo albido subsericeo: stipitibus 
validis contortis strato crasso cartilagineo-viscoso in velum 
universale producto tectis, intus spongiosis; lamellis integris 
liberis pallidis.— Gardner, n. 90. 
Found about four feet below the surface of- the earth, — 
growing on the Comb of Termites, Ceylon. June, 1815. - 
From a common expanded base spring, numerous stems 
of which probably a few only produce perfect pilei. — 
Pileus 2 inches broad, white, silky towards the margin. - 
Stem 8-10 inches high, twisted tough externally, spongy 
within, covered with a thick viscoso-cartilaginous coat, which 
is prolonged into a veil, which at first covers the pileus, and 
after bursting forms a broad persistent collar. 
.. Gills pallid, entire. 2 
The specimens before me of this very curious plant pores 
been very much injured by insects, which have nearly 
destroyed the gills. The description is drawn up from the 
drawing and specimens carefully compared. The stems - 
resemble more a dry sea-weed than a Fungus. It is P — — 
sible that more perfect specimens might justify the establish- — 
ment of a new genus. : "e x 
*L. exilis, Klotzsch. Mss. Fr. Ep. p. 393.— Gardner, n. 67. ce 
81. Me 
On old trees. Hautane, Ceylon. Aug.1844.  — sé D 
When fresh according to the accompanying drawing 77 
colour of the pileus is a yellowish brown, that of the stem 
and gills pale yellowish-white. In the dried specimens there 
* 5 
