166 fetch: 



it ranks next to Dictyophora in point of frequency at 

 Peradeniya.. 



The volva is white or brownish, spherical or vertically 

 elongated, 3-3^ cm. high, 2|-3| cm. broad : it usually termi- 

 nates below in a conical extension to which the white mycelium 

 is attached. This projection occurs in most of my specimens, 

 and is shown also in Penzig's figure. The total height of the 

 fungus is 9-12 cms., and the diameter of the stalk varies from 

 1-2 to 3*4 cms. The stalk may be of uniform diameter 

 throughout, or slightly swollen in the middle. It shows few 

 perforations on the exterior. In some specimens it is longi- 

 tudinally striate, owing to the radial walls of the chambers 

 showing through the outer layers, as in Colus Gardneri. Its 

 colour is pale yellow : when placed in alcohol it turns tempo- 

 rarily pink or reddish. 



The structure of the stalk varies. In cross section there Is 

 an inner layer of large polygonal chambers up to 3 mm. in 

 diameter : outside this there may be one, two, or three 

 layers of much smaller chambers, which are often tangent ially 

 elongated. When there is only one layer of these small outer 

 chambers and they are about 1 mm. broad, the radial walls of 

 the larger chambers make the stalk appear striate. Penzig 

 says that the wall of the stalk consists of two layers of closed 

 chambers, of which the inner are larger than the outer. But 

 the number of layers varies ; and in all my specimens the inner 

 chambers are not closed. Two walls, the upper and lower, 

 are wanting in each chamber, so that it might be said that the 

 outer layer of small chambers is supported by radial struts 

 from the membraneous inner waU of the stalk. As in Colus 

 Gardneri, there are continuous cavities running the whole 

 length of the stalk, though they do not keep the same straight 

 line as in that species. Thus on looking at the cut end of the 

 stalk one either sees down to the base, or else sees the sharp 

 edge of another radial wall a few millimetres down the cavity : 

 b\it the horizontal cross walls, if there ever were any, have 

 disappeared in the expansion of the stalk. 



The stalk merges into a netted head, 2^-3 cms. high, rounded 

 above. The head may be of the same diameter as the stalk, 

 or it mav swell out to almost double the diameter. For 



