A MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS PODAXIS DESV. (= PODAXON FR.). 75 



Syst. Myc. iii. p. 63 ; Sacc. Syll. vol. vii. pt. i. No. 171. Podaxon 

 araMcus Pat. Bull. Soc. Myc. vol. iii. p. 122, pi. xi. f. 1 (1887). 



Peridium 7-10 cm. high by 3-4 cm. broad ; stem 10-17 cm. 

 long, and about 1 cm. tbick below ; tbe bulb-like base of tbe stem 

 is mostly due to sand being firmly agglutinated togetber by tbe 

 mycelium. 



Hab. In dry sandy places, or on tbe nests of termites. Edible. 

 Soutb Africa (Prof. MacOwari) ; Porto Praya, Cape de Verde Is. 

 (Sir J. D. Hooker); Niger Exp. (Barter); Socotra {Prof. I. B. 

 Balfour) ; Madras ; Rawul Pindee, Punjab ; Himalayas ; Afgban- 

 istan (Dr. Aitchisori) ; Victoria and Queensland, Australia. 



2. Podaxis carcinomalis (Linn.). — Peridium oblong-ovate or 

 broadly elliptical, smootb, tben often more or less fibrillose, lower 

 free margin irregularly torn ; stem elongated, very mucb attenuated 

 upwards, bollow, base swollen and often oblique ; mass of capillitium 

 and spores dark umber-brown ; capillitium dense, threads thick- 

 walled, bright brown, simple or rarely branched, very much twisted 

 and interlaced, spiral marking distinct, often breaking up into a 

 flat, spiral ribbon, 10-12 [x thick; spores bright brown, smooth, 

 elliptic-oblong, 10-12 x 6-7 p. 



Lycoperdon carcinomalis Linn. Suppl. PI. p. 453. Podaxon carci- 

 nomalis Fries, Syst. Myc. iii. p. 62 ; Sacc. Syll. No. 168 ; Fischer, 

 Hedw. 1889, Heft i. p. 1, t. 1, figs. 1-2. Podaxon elatus Welw. & 

 Curr. Trans. Linn. Journ. vol. xxvi. p. 288, pi. 19, f. 4-6. Sclero- 

 derma carcinomale Pers. Syn. Meth. Fung. p. 151. 



The type-specimen of Linnaeus is in the Liunean Herbarium, 

 now in the possession of the Linnean Society, and the type of 

 Welwitsch & Currey is in the Kew Herbarium. 



The peridium varies from 7-20 cm. in height by 5-12 cm. in 

 breadth ; the stem is also variable in proportion, 12-40 cm. long 

 by 1-3 cm. thick towards the base. 



The present species is most closely allied to P. indica, but is 

 altogether a larger and more robust plant, and well characterized 

 by the spores and the stouter stem with the usually oblique swollen 

 base. 



Hab. Sandy places, and on nests of white ants. Niger Exped. 

 (Barter); Uitenhage (Zeyher); South Africa; S.W. Africa (Dr. 

 Scltinz) ; Angola (Dr. Welwitsch). 



Var. minor Berk, in herb. — Very much smaller and more slender 

 than the typical form, but capillitium and spores exactly the same. 



Hab. On the ground. Entire plant 6-7 cm. high. Natal. 



B. Capillitium very scanty or obsolete. 



3. Podaxis axata (Bosc). — Peridium elliptical, smooth or 

 fibrillose, usually torn into irregular, pointed segments at the 

 lower, free margin ; stem elongated, attenuated upwards, fibrillose 

 and usually twisted, hollow, base bulbous ; mass of spores olivaceous- 

 umber ; capillitium rare or altogether obsolete ; spores variable in 

 form, broadly elliptical or irregularly subglobose, dusky olive with 

 a brown tinge, wall thin, 13-14 or 13-14 x 10-11 p. 



