Coins Gardneri. T. Fetch. 125 



material. Of recent years, the systematic study of Australian 

 fungi (as distinct from plant pathology) has been vigorously 

 pursued by Dr. J. B. Cleland and Mr. E. Cheel, and thanks to 

 them we are now able to obtain material in a condition more 

 suitable for investigation. In order to decide the identity, or 

 otherwise, of Lysunis Gardneri and Lysitrns anstraliensis , 

 I sent specimens of the former, in alcohol, to Dr. Cleland, and, 

 in return, Mr. Cheel has very kindly* forwarded specimens of 

 the Australian species in formalin. Comparison of the two 

 species shows that they are entirely different. Each has a 

 stalk and five arms, but there the resemblance ends. 



Before proceeding to enumerate the differences between the 

 two species named, it may be as well to call attention to a point 

 in the classification of phalloids which has not received the 

 consideration it should. In spite of Fischer's work, there 

 appears to be too great a tendency to base the systematic 

 arrangement of this group on general appearance, and to ignore 

 details which, to some, seem to be more important. We do 

 not group the Dog Rose and the Christmas Rose together, 

 even though to the casual observer their flowers may look very 

 much alike. 



In all the phalloids, the gleba is borne on certain definite 

 areas. The main mass of the plant may be regarded as a 

 foundation or scaffolding on which the gleba-bearing regions 

 are situated. The foundation is, iii general, composed of 

 chambered tissue, and its surface usually bears close-set 

 convex elevations, which represent the outer walls of the 

 chambers. But the surface underlying the gleba is usually 

 of a different nature, and in many genera it has a characteristic 

 form. This surface may be called the glebiferous layer, from 

 its function, without any necessary implication as to its 

 origin. ■ 



It is genially recognised that the shape of the foundation 

 may vary to a considerable extent. A species which usually 

 has five arms may sometimes have four or six. A stalk which 

 generally consists of three layers of chambers might conceivably 

 have only two ; Cleland and Cheel suggest such a variation to 

 accoimt for the fact that the wall of the stalk of Lysunis 

 aiistralieiisis has usually three layers of chambers, while that 

 of the supposed identical Lysurns Gardneri has usually only 

 one. In Aseroe rubra, the number of arms varies considerably, 

 and while some specimens have narrow simple arms, others 

 may have broader bifid arms owing to the partial fusion of 

 adjacent pairs, and in yet others, all the arms may be fused 

 in pairs to form broad simple arms ; stages of this variation 

 may be found on opposite sides of the same specimen. But 



