A MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS PODAXIS DESV. (= PODAXON FR.). 73 



are indications of scars, but the material at command was too 

 imperfect to ascertain the number or mode of attachment of the 

 spores ; the capillitium-threads have the spiral thickening inside 

 more distinctly differentiated than in those of Podaxis, and some- 

 times passing into the annular form. That the above remarks were 

 to some extent anticipated by De Bary is shown by the following 

 quotation : — " The differences between the genera Batarrea and 

 Podaxon and the typical Lycoperdacea which have been hitherto under 

 consideration, are sufficiently striking to require a special descrip- 

 tion."* 



Geographical Distribution. 



The species of Podaxis, seven in number, are not abundant 

 anywhere, and being very conspicuous and readily preserved, it is 

 not to be expected that many novelties remain to be discovered, or 

 the range of known species extended to any marked extent. As 

 already remarked, there is a primitive quaintness in the general 

 morphology, which, added to the fact that the known species are 

 confined to geologically old-fashioned places, suggests that we are 

 dealing with the fragmentary remains of a first attempt to emerge 

 from the altogether subterranean habits of the pioneers of our 

 modern group of Gastromycetes. 



The genus ranges from St. Domingo, California, 116° W. long., 

 to Brisbane, 153° E. long., and from New Mexico, 35° N. lat., to 

 Melbourne, 37° S. lat. All the species are met with in arid, sandy 

 districts. P. indica often occurs in numbers on the large hillocks 

 made by ants at the Cape of Good Hope and in Afghanistan ; in 

 both places it is eaten by the natives. Africa may perhaps be 

 looked upon as the geographical centre of the genus at the present 

 day. Species have been collected in the Egyptian desert on the 

 east, the Cape de Verde Islands, and from Senegambia, following 

 the west coast to S. Africa, where individuals appear to be far more 

 numerous than in any other known district. The Island of Socotra, 

 where P. indica has been collected, forms the stepping-stone to 

 Asia, where two species extend to the Himalayas and Afghanistan, 

 and, by way of a surprise, undoubted P. indica occurs in Queensland 

 and Victoria. Finally, a single species, closely allied to, but quite 

 distinct from the Old World species, occurs w T ithin a limited area on 

 the Western side of North America. So far as is known, the genus 

 is not represented in Europe or South America. 



Classification. 



Podaxis Desv. — Peridium at first subterranean, sessile, con- 

 cealing the gleba, which is traversed by a central axis ; substance 

 of gleba spongy, without distinct cavities or tramal-plates ; asci 

 monosporous, produced in dense clusters ; capillitium copious or 

 obsolete. The peridium after spore-formation is elevated above 

 ground on a long stem, and at maturity dehisces by becoming 

 irregularly torn, and separating from the stem at its basal point of 

 attachment. 



* ' Fungi, Mycetozoa, and Bacteria,' Engl, ed., p. 317. 



