176 FETCH : 



(1875), p. 31) as Aseroe actiniformis, probably a mistake for 

 A. actinobola, Corda. A. zeylanica is described as " mycelium 

 and volva purple, receptaculum shortly stalked, reddish, with 

 twenty vermilion arms obscurely arranged in pairs, which are 

 separated by a rounded sinus : gleba surrounding the orifice 

 of the stalk, purple-red." Various other " species " have been 

 described, differing in colour and the number of arms, but all 

 are included by Fischer under A. rubra. 



Specimens were collected in Ceylon by Gardner and 

 Thwaites ; the latter states that it is usually met with at an 

 elevation of about 5,000 feet, and it is sometimes rather com- 

 mon upon the ground under coffee trees. There is neither 

 specimen nor figure in the herbarium. It is probably rarer 

 at the present day, now that coffee has been replaced by tea, 

 but it is still common enough to be known by " up-country " 

 planters. Unfortunately it does not grow at Peradeniya, and 

 I have therefore not been able to secure a photograph, or 

 obtain a large series of specimens. 



Fischer states (Untersuch. Phalloideen, 1890) that Aseroe 

 rubra zeylanica differs from A. rubra typica in having the arms 

 not only split to the base, but also separated by a rounded 

 sinus : " die beiden Extreme, A. rubra typica and A. rubra 

 zeylanica sind zwar ausserordentlich verschieden, allein die 

 zwischen liegenden For men verbunden sie so gut, das es 

 unmoglich ware, eine Speciestrennung vorzunehmen." Both 

 forms occur in Ceylon, with all possible intermediate stages. 



My finest specimens were gathered in Pundalu-oya, at 4,500 

 feet, late in the afternoon of a t5rpical monsoon day. They 

 grew among dead Grevillea leaves at the base of tea bush. Of 

 three fully expanded specimens, one had the gleba still 

 covering the opening of the stalk, the second had the gleba and 

 disc partly eaten, while all trace of gleba had disappeared from 

 the third. 



These specimens measure 12 cms. from tip to tip of the 

 arms, and are about 5 cms. high. The first point one notices 

 is that the arms are rigid, not curled up at the extremity as in 

 the usual figures of this species. The general outline of the 

 arms and disc is concave or saucer-shaped. The colour, too, 

 is not uniform, as the books would lead us to except : the part 



