PHALLOIDE.E OF CEYLON. 9 



had therefore lengthened by 4-5 and 5 cms. respectively 

 during the time occupied by the expansion of the veil. 



It is evident from this that the veil begins to expand before 

 the elongation of the stalk is complete. In the first stao-esof 

 expansion of the stalk the veil remains hidden by the pileus, 

 and the attachment of the veil to the stalk appears to be at tlxe 

 apex of the latter. But in the final stage of expansion, the 

 part of the stalk above the attachment of the veil is lengthened, 

 and thus the junction of the veil and stalk comes to He at the 

 level of the lower edge of the cap. Of course, the whole of 

 the 5 cms. extension in the present case is not due only to tlie 

 lengthening of the part of the stalk beneath the cap : probably 

 not more than 2 cms. can be attributed to that, the remainder 

 being due to the final stages of elongation of the lower part 

 of the stalk. 



The veil is, therefore, in some degree, left behind during the 

 expansion of the stalk. When the pileus, which is attached 

 only to the apex of the stalk, is gradually removed by the 

 elongation of the latter, the veil appears first as an apparently 

 continuous wrinkled sheet. It retains this appearance until a 

 length of about 5 mms. is exposed, when it begins to open out 

 into a net. Apparently the veil does not begin to expand so 

 long as it is covered by the pileus ; but it does not seem 

 probable that the latter could exert any pressure on it which 

 would prevent it from expanding. 



The above examples show that Dictyophora does not require 

 any supply of water from an external source during the final 

 stages of expansion. Both specimens had been gathered and 

 carried for some distance ; but both, even the one which had 

 been torn out of its volva, expanded completely when lying 

 in the laboratory. This agrees with the results obtained by 

 Burt in experiments on Phallus duplicatus. " While the 

 rapidity of elongation is favoured by an abundant supply of 

 water, still any very appreciable amount in addition to that 

 already contained in the egg is not absolutely necessary. 

 Elongation of the receptaculum is not dependent on any 

 contribution of water or other substance from tlie volva 

 during the progress of elongation." [Burt. The Phalloidew 

 of the United States, Bot. Gaz. XXIV. (Aug. 1897), p. 84.] 



6(11)10 (2) 



