1^6 RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



stipe to its apex. After a night had passed, the stipe was found to 

 have grown from its original length of 9*5 cm. to 23 cm. (Fig. 82, B). 

 It was then observed by reference to the ink marks that that portion 

 of the stipe which had been naturally exposed for a distance of 4 • 5 cm. 

 below the pileus had not elongated at all, and that the whole of the 

 nocturnal increase in length of the stipe, amounting to 13-5 cm., 

 had been brought about by the growth of that part of the stipe 

 which had been originally enclosed within the pileus. The whole 

 of this originally enclosed part of the stipe had elongated, but the 

 changed positions of the ink marks made it evident that its upper 

 half had grown in length far more than its lower half. The upper 

 half had increased its length from 2-5 cm. to 14 cm., its increment 

 being 11-5 cm., whereas the lower half had increased in length 

 from 2-5 cm. to 4-5 cm., its increment being only 2 cm. The 

 growth in length of the upper half of the originally enclosed 

 piece of stipe had therefore been nearly six times as great as 

 that of the lower half. Fig. 82 (p. 195) indicates graphically the 

 amount of growth of each centimetre of the stipe, and a study 

 of it will show that the amount of growth in length of each 

 centimetre of the originally enclosed part of the stipe varies 

 inversely with its distance from the stipe-apex proceeding from 

 above downwards. In general terms we may say that the greatest 

 amount of growth in an elongating stipe takes place in the apical 

 portion. 



The fully extended stipe varies considerably in length according 

 to the vigour of the fruit-body. The shortest stipe I have ever 

 seen was only 8 cm. long, while the longest was 30 cm. The stipes 

 of fruit-bodies which came up spontaneously on horse dung in the 

 laboratory were, as a rule, from 12 to 18 cm. long ; but those of 

 fruit-bodies which were raised in pure cultures were usually 18 to 

 25 cm. long and not infrequently 25 to 30 cm. long. The solid 

 stipe-base is the thickest portion of the stipe : it is usually some- 

 what swollen or bulbous and may attain a thickness of 1'5 cm. 

 {cf. Figs. 70 and 75, pp. 181 and 186). The stipe-shaft into which 

 it passes above is often 1 cm. thick below (Fig. 97, p. 232). It 

 tapers slightly from below upwards, and its thickness just under 

 the pileus becomes reduced to about 0*5 cm. The stipe-shaft has 



