

TRANSACTIONS 



NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE 



1906. 



Art. I. — The Fungus Flora of New Zealand. — Part II. 



By George Massee, F.L.S., Principal x\ssistant (Cryptogams), 



Herbarium, Koyal Gardens, Kew. 



{Read befoie the Wellington Philosophical Society, 5th April, 1906.] 



Communicated by A. Hamilton. 



Plates 1 and II. 



POLYrORE.??. 



The one constant morphological feature of the present family 

 consists in the hymenium, or spore-bearing surface, being de- 

 veloped, over the entire inner surface of tubes or pits. In the 

 most typical forms, included in such genera as Boletus and. 

 Polyporus, the tubes collectively forming the hymenium are 

 frequently 2 cm. or 3 cm. long, and vary in different species 

 from 0-5 mm. to 5 mm. in diameter. In the highest types the 

 tubes are cylindrical, and are packed compactly side by side, 

 as seen in a vertical section, whereas when viewed in the entire 

 plant the pores or openings of the tubes only are seen. The 

 form of the pores is circular when the tubes are cylindrical ; 

 in other instances the pores are polygonal, or sinuous, when 

 somewhat elongated and wavy or flexuous. 



In certain genera the tubes are so very shallow that they 

 merely resemble circular, polygonal, or sinuous pits or depressions. 



The bordering walls of the tubes, which bear the hymenium 

 on their free surface, are called " dissepiments." 



The elements of the hymenium consist of basidia and para- 

 phjses, and in many instances large cystidia are also present in 

 considerable numbers. 



Texture, size, and form vary exceedingly in the present 

 group. In Boletus the species are fleshy, soft, and putrescent, 

 completely disappearing within one or two weeks after their 



1— Trans. 



