PHALLOIDE^E OF CEYLON. 3 



almost obliterated, while their inner walls have disappeared. 

 The substance of the head is crimson throughout. The apex 

 of the head is solid, not perforated ; and in my specimens it 

 terminates in a point which is not covered by the gleba. 



A second specimen, which expander^, in the laboratory, was 

 only 7 cms. high. Its stalk was 8 ram.:., in diameter at the base 

 and 1 cm. in diameter at the widest part, which was about 

 5 rams, below the head. The head was 1-2 cm. high. 



The apex of the " egg " is at first rounded, but as it ripens 

 it becomes pointed owing to the shape of the receptaculum. 

 In my specimens the volva was first perforated by the naked 

 pointed apex of the receptaculum, and the fungus remained 

 in this stage for some time without expanding further. The 

 eggs were found on Monday, and brought to tlie laboratory, 

 with some soil, in a closed tin. They were then planted in a 

 pot, well watered, and covered with a bell glass. On Thursday 

 morning the red tip was visible in one specimen, but the 

 recej)taculuin did not <'xpand further until Saturday. At 

 8 .4.M. on Satuiday it had protruded to about lialf its final 

 height, but it was not fully expanded until 12 noon. It 

 remained rigid the whole of tlie next day, and meanwhile the 

 colour of the stalk faded to some extent. This prolonged 

 period of expansion is in striking contrast to the behaviour 

 of other Ceylon plialloids, all of which expand rapidly. 



Plate IV. , tig. 1 , shows a half expanded specimen. The stalk 

 is somewhat rugulose and of uniform diameter. The head, 

 except at the tip, is covered by a fine white membrane. I 

 have previously pointed out that most of our Ceylon phalloids 

 possess this membrane, which disappears as tlie fungus 

 expands or soon after. In Coins Gardneri, Siinblum q^ariphra^' 

 nwides, Dictyophora phaUoidea., and Dictyophora irpicina, it 

 lies outside and covers the gleba, but in Aseroe rubra it lies 

 underneath and supports the gleba. In the latter case, the 

 gleba retracts into a ring round the opening of the stalk 

 when the membrane vanishes. In Aseroe araclmoidea also, it 

 covers the orifice of the stalk and supports the gleba in part ; 

 in this species the gleba does not form a continuous sheet, but 

 a series of rounded lobes at the bases of the arms ; when these 

 lobes are supported by the membrane, the latter is visible as a 



