May 1907] The Phalloideae of Texas 105 



exposed, the sand being previously thoroughly wetted. The 

 box was then covered with glass and placed near a wood stove 

 and every eight or twelve hours — usually once at night and 

 again early next morning, a gallon of water, hot as the hand 

 could stand, was poured over the eggs and on the sand ; by 

 this means the sand and the air in the interior of the box 

 was kept warm and moist. Eggs of Phallus inipudicus. Phallus 

 rubicundus, Mutinus caninus, and Simblum texense were thus 

 hatched. The writer found great trouble in getting the eggs 

 of Simblum texense to hatch in a moist chamber on account 

 of a species of white mould attacking and destroying them. 

 In warm w,eather all that is necessary is to keep the sand wet 

 and the box in the sun light with the glass over it. Some sixty 

 to a hundred eggs of Simblum texense were expanded by this 

 means. 



Later, when some one hundred or more eggs of Phallus im- 

 pudicus, some as large as a man's fist and weighing one pound, 

 were found, it became necessary to devise another way for hatch- 

 ing, as such a quantity of large eggs occupied much space and 

 could not be kept warm by the methods given above. A hole was 

 dug on the south side of my house and into this was set a large 

 box about three feet long, three wide, and two feet deep ; which 

 was filled with sand to a depth of twelve to fourteen inches. 

 Into the sand after wetting it were put the eggs, the box cov- 

 ered with glass and left exposed to the sun's rays during the 

 day; at night it was covered with a blanket. In this box I 

 hatched most of my Phallus impudicus specimens. The last egg 

 expanded on January 23rd, two months after they were put in ; 

 but very few of the eggs of the other species would expand 

 under these conditions. Simblum sphaerocephalum was exceed- 

 ingly difficult to hatch ; only two good specimens were obtained. 



A careful study of the specimens of Phallus impudicus and 

 Phallus rubicundus, as they were expanding, seems to indicate 

 that Dictyophora is not a good genus. Many of the plants, espe- 

 cially of Phallus impudicus, showed veils of varying degrees of 

 permanency — from a mere film to one of appreciable thickness, 

 and in every respect, as to texture, size, thickness, and position 

 comparable to the so-called veil of D. ravenelii. This veil in 

 Phallus impudicus and Phallus rubicundus lies in the unexpanded 

 plant as a zone of tissue next to the stipe. As the stipe elongates 

 this membrane usually ruptures at edge of cap or beneath it, 

 then as elongation continues bands and shreds of it may be left 

 on the stipe. It will be found in one of three places and some- 

 times in all of them; first, as a veil hanging from top of stipe 

 beneath the cap; second, as a distinct membrane in bands and 

 patches on the stipe; third, as an enveloping sac-like membrane 

 around the base of the stipe inside of the volva ; here it seems to 

 be a prolongation of the inner cup-like membrane of the volva 



