148 FETCH : 



yet expanded, but was folded up just below the cap, and have 

 «een them expand during the next half hour when lying on the 

 table in the laboratory. Perfect specimens with the net still 

 rigid can be gathered between 8 and 9 a.m. MoUer observed 

 the time of opening of ten specimens, most of which expanded 

 between 2 and 7 a.m. : and he remarks that since they expand 

 during the night it is difficult to obtain a photograph, for as 

 soon as the sun strikes them the net collapses. In Ceylon, 

 though the exact time of expansion has not been observed, it 

 is evidently later than in Brazil, and I have no difficulty in 

 obtaining perfect specimens with the veil still rigid between 

 8 and 9 a.m. It seems reasonable to suggest that the precise 

 time of opening is controlled by the supply of water, and 

 therefore by the time of maximum humidity, which occurs in 

 Ceylon about 6 a.m. Since the net is fully expanded for at least 

 two hours of daylight, or longer on wet days, Moller's objection 

 to the net being considered attractive to insects because it is 

 only fully spread during the night, has no weight in Ceylon. 

 However, it may be granted that the insects which visit our 

 Ceylon phalloids are attracted by the smell, not by the colour. 



The net extends, in general, about two-thirds of the length of 

 the stalk : in some cases it reaches down to the ground, and 

 cases of imperfect development in which the net remains 

 partly expanded at the top of the stalk are not uncommon. 



Nothing has yet been said as to the colour. Fischer says 

 that D. phalloidea is snow white, or, less frequently , rosy. The 

 commonest Ceylon form has a white stalk, a white cap, and a 

 salmon pink net. A pure white specimen is rare, though 

 curiously the specimens I have developed from " eggs " have 

 been white. This, together with Moller's results, suggests 

 that the separation of the egg from the mycelium may in some 

 way influence the colour. Frequently the cap is pale yellow. 

 Two specimens from the low-country had a bright orange 

 stalk, cap, and net, but they did not differ in structure from 

 the common ' form. A large white specimen gathered at 

 Peradeniya had one part of the net undeveloped, i.e., forming 

 a solid plate which threw the remainder of the net into folds : 

 this plate was pinkish. One specimen with a very pale pink 

 net was reddish purple at the base of the volva. Altogether 



