294 Transactions. — Botany. 



Psathyrella, Fries, Epicr., p. 237 (as a subgenus of Aga- 

 ricus) . 



Structurally most closely allied to Psathyra, a genus in- 

 cluded in the Porphyrosporcs, but in the latter the purplish- 

 brown colour of the spores is distinctive. Growing on the 

 ground . 



7. Psathyrella disseminata, Pers., Syn., p. 403 (1801) ; Cke., 

 Hdbk. Austr. Fung., p. 68; Sacc, Syll. v., no. 4597. 

 Densely tufted. Pileus about 1 cm. across, membrana- 

 ceous, ovate-campanulate, at first scurfy then naked, coarsely 

 striate, margin entire, yellowish-tan, then grey ; gills adnate, 

 narrow, whitish, then grey, finally blackish ; spores elliptical, 

 6-10 X 3-5 /x ; stem 2-4 cm. long, very slender, almost equal, 

 rather curved, mealy then smooth, fragile, hollow. 



About trunks and stumps, and on the ground. New Zea- 

 land. Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, 

 Ceylon, South Africa, Europe, Siberia. 



Forming large, dense tufts ; very slender and fragile, soon 

 flaccid, but not deliquescent. 



POKPHYROSPOE^ . 



Analysis of the Genera. 

 * Gills attached to the stem. 



f Ring imperfect or absent. 



5. Hypholoma. 



ft Ring perfect on the stem. 



6. Steopharia. 



** Gills free from the stem. 



7. Agaricus. 



5. Hypholoma, Fries. 



Pileus regular, fleshy, margin incurved when young ; gills 

 adnate or adnexed and sinuate ; stem central, veil cobweb- 

 like, not forming a distinct ring, after rupture attached in 

 fragments to margin of pileus ; spores purple-brown. 

 Hyplioloma, Fries, Syst. Myc, i., p. 287 (as a subgenus of 

 Agaj'icus) . 



Mostly tufted and growing on wood, buried roots, &c. 

 Distinguished from Stropharia by the absence of an inter- 

 woven complete ring on the stem. When a trace of a ring is 

 present it is in the form of delicate fibres, and very scanty. 



Hypholoma agrees in structure with Hebeloma, Entolom.a, 

 and Tricholoma. On wood, or clustered on or around stumps ; 

 often clustered. 



8. Hypholoma appendiciilatum, Bull., Champ. France, pi. 392 ; 

 Flora N.Z., ii., p. 175; Hdbk. N.Z. Flora, p. 604; Sacc, 

 Syll. v.. No. 4214. 



