3o6 RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



at the beginning of expansion, everywhere clothed with dense white 

 down and, during expansion, the down becoming converted into 

 small, thin, very delicate, easily detachable, fugacious, hairy tufts 

 or scales consisting of matted chains of cells often 1 mm. or more 

 long; a complete chain being composed of 8-10 more or less barrel- 

 shaped cells, the smallest cells farthest from the pileus- flesh 60-100 

 X 20-30 fjL and the largest next to the pileus-flesh 170-190 X 40- 

 50 /A and in very vigorous fruit-bodies varying up to 240 X 80 /x. 



Stipe, when fully extended, in dwarf fruit-bodies 1-10 mm. high, 

 in large fruit-bodies varying up to 185 mm. (often 50-120 mm.); 

 in large fruit-bodies the obconic base often swelling to 4-5 mm. in 

 diameter, and occasionally to 7 mm., and showing a circular line 

 where the pileus has broken away ; shaft of stipe diminishing in 

 diameter upwards, at the top in large fruit-bodies only 1-2 mm. 

 in diameter and in smaller fruit-bodies much thinner ; more or 

 less clothed on the exterior with loose fibrillae, particularly on the 

 lower half ; watery white, hollow, very fragile ; in small specimens 

 rapidly withering when brought into dry air. 



Gills at first white, at maturity black, adnexed, very thin, 

 parallel-sided, a,utodigesting strongly at the edges, varying in size 

 with the size of the pileus but length usually 6-10 times the breadth. 

 The length and breadth of the gills of five fruit-bodies were : 

 6x1 mm., 10 X 1-3 mm., 15 X 1-5 mm., 23 X 2 mm., and 

 19 X 3-2 mm. 



Pileus-fiesh, in the unexpanded fruit-body white above gills and 

 discoloured yellowish-brown at disc, after expansion appearing grey 

 or black owing to the presence of black spores on the gills ; before 

 expansion, when the down has been rubbed off, very smooth, 

 slippery, and shining ; after expansion radially plicate to the disc 

 owing to the cleavage of the gills, and often almost or quite naked 

 owing to the fugacious scales having been removed by rain or other 

 mechanical means. 



Cystidia on the gill-sides (pleurocystidia) abundant in large 

 fruit-bodies, very few in small ones ; elongated- oval, rounded at 

 the apex, somewhat bulging in the middle, and contracted into a 

 stalk at the base ; length 100-130 fi, breadth 35-45 /x ; colourless ; 

 before the expansion of the pileus each cystidium completely 



