Jakob E. Lange: Studies in the Agarics of Denmark. IV. 13 



M. epodius Bres. has extraordinarily long, almost needleshaped 

 spores. In general the spores are sub-ellipsoid, smooth, attenua- 

 ted of the base. In most cases they are pipshaped, but occa- 

 sionally they are more narrow, fusiform or almost club-shaped. 

 Nor do they vary much in size. The extremes in the species 

 observed by me are 11x7 (J (M. alliaceus), 11 x 4 3 /i u (M. recu- 

 bans), 6 x 31/, y (M. perforans) *). 



The genus appears to comprise no 2-spored species. — Cy- 

 stidia in most species are wanting or inconspicuous; but some 

 few species have characteristic setulæ (borstlike cystidia?) on 

 the gills or the stem. Another type of cystidia (which is very 

 commonly met with in Mycena) is found in some few of the 

 smaller Marasmii on the edge of the gills. These cystidia are 

 obovate with small wartlike excrescences. Finally in a single 

 species (M. cohærens) the surface of the cap is made up of cells 

 crowned with a number of small coloured setula which give to 

 the cap a somewhat velvety bloom. 



Classification. I do not think the systematic arrangement 

 of the species within the genus Marasmius has been very much 

 improved since the time of Fries. Probably a really satisfac- 

 tory classification cannot be attained as long as we know so 

 very little about the innumerable tropical species. (Although 

 our knowledge of the mycological flora of the Tropics is as yet 

 very fragmentary the number of Marasmii recorded from these 

 parts is very large. As early as in the eighties of last century 

 Saccardo (Sylloge Fung. vol. V) enumerates about 200). Maras- 

 mius (and the same holds true of Lentinus) evidently has its 

 centre of distribution in the tropical countries, the European 

 species being only as it were the sentinels of an army — si- 

 milar in this respect to the Ericas of Northern Europe as com- 

 pared with those of the Mediterranean flora. 



Some few of the Friesian species are now generally regarded 

 as mere forms or varieties. Thus M. urens and M. peronatus 

 are by most authors treated as synonymous, and so are M. 

 Wynnei, M. globularis and others. M. epichloe is hardly anything 

 but Collybia stipitaria, and M. calopus too close to M. scorodonius 

 to be considered a distinct species. Even M. argijropus I feel 



*) Massee (European Fungus Flora) mentions several species with gigantic or 

 very minute spores. Thus for M. prasiosmus he has 14 — 16 X 7 ft, for 

 M. alliaceus 14-16 x 8 „, for M.fuscopurpureus 4x3 «,, for M. graminum 

 4x3,, etc. But to my mind these observations are not altogether reliable. 



