THE ARMILLARIA SUB-TYPE 85 



open for five successive days. At the end of this time, slugs entirely 

 destroyed the fruit-bodies, and it was therefore impossible to make 

 any further observations on the length of the spore-discharge period. 



(3) The gHls are not mottled in the Rhodosporae, and neither in 

 this family nor in the Leucosporae are there irregular waves of 

 development passing over the surface of the hymenium. In absence 

 of mottling and wave development, the Armillaria Sub-type is 

 markedly different from the Panaeolus Sub-type. 



(4) On any small area of the hymenium the basidia are not 

 assorted into definite groups of any kind. Basidia with ripe or 

 nearly ripe spores are distantly separated from one another. In the 

 middle of the areas between these most mature basidia are to be 

 found younger basidia with less advanced spores, also distantly 

 separated from one another. Still younger basidia with well- 

 advanced sterigmata or very rudimentary spores may again occur 

 in the middle of the spaces still left. These basidia, again, are 

 distantly separated from one another. We thus find that, on any 

 small area of the hymenium, there are spore-bearing basidia present 

 in all stages of development, from those just discharging or about 

 to discharge their spores to those with sterigmata just giving rise 

 to spore-rudiments. The chief rule for the arrangement of all these 

 basidia is that neighbouring basidia with spores of about the same 

 age shall be distantly separated from one another. By this arrange- 

 ment plenty of room is left for younger basidia to come up between 

 older ones without any jostling. 



(5) It is impossible to tell the number of generations of basidia 

 coming up on any area of the hymenium, since the basidia at any 

 one time are in all stages of development and not associated into 

 age-groups. Here then we have a contrast with the other Sub- types 

 which have been considered. 



(6) The basidia are monomorphic, i.e. equally protuberant. In 

 this respect our Sub- type agrees with the Panaeolus, the Bolbitius, 

 and the Inocybe Sub-types, but differs from the Psathyrella Sub- 

 type as well as from all the Coprinus Sub- types. 



(7) There is no lateral crowding of the basidia with overlap of 

 spores such as is found in the Psath3Tella Sub-type and in the 

 Coprinus Sub-types, but adjacent spore-bearing basidia are separated 



