126 Transactions British Mycological Society. 



what is often not recognised is that the form of the glebiferous 

 layer is practically constant. 



In Mutinus, the glebiferous layer consists of a series of close- 

 set slightly-elevated tubercles. Jansia is indistinguishable 

 from Mutinus when the head is covered with gleba, but when 

 the gleba is removed, the glebiferous layer (in the type species) 

 is found to bear numerous scattered appendages. Hence 

 Jansia is distinguished from Mutinus by the form of the 

 glebiferous la3^er. 



The point I would wish to emphasise is that, in classification, 

 the shape of the glebiferous layer, as well as the general shape 

 of the foundation, should be taken into account. Otherwise, 

 the classification would appear to be in the same category as 

 a classification of flowering plants based on general form and 

 habit. 



Dictyophora offers a standard example. Dictyophora irpicina 

 is of the same general form as D. phaUoidca. When the cap 

 is covered with gleba, there is nothing evident to indicate that 

 the two are not structurally alike. But when the gleba is 

 removed, the latter is found to have its cap widely reticulated 

 with high, narrow ridges, while the cap of the former has an 

 irregular granular appearance, due to the fact that its glebi- 

 ferous layer consists of innumerable thin processes and con- 

 torted plates, perpendicular to the basal layer and closely 

 packed together. Recognising this difference, Fischer divided 

 Dictyophora into two sections, Reticulati and Rugulosi. 

 Recent writers hav^e gone further and have raised Patouillard's 

 section Clautriavia, which is Fischer's Rugulosi, to the rank 

 of a genus. 



According to the idea outlined above, it is not possible to 

 classify an unknown phalloid accurately, unless the gleba is 

 washed off and the glebiferous layer examined. If this test is 

 applied to Lysurus anstralicnsis and Lysurus Gardneri, it is 

 immediately clear that the two species are not the same and 

 do not even belong to the same genus. The glebiferous layer of 

 Lysurus australiensis consists of smooth broad folds or wrinkles; 

 that of Lysurus Gardneri is rough and granular, of the same 

 nature as that of Clautriavia irpicina. If Dictyophora irpicina 

 is admitted to be generically distinct from D. phalloidea, 

 there can be no escape from the conclusion that Lysurus 

 Gardneri is generically distinct from L. australiensis. 



The arm of Lysurus australiensis bears a glebiferous layer 

 along the whole of its length. Laterally, this layer extends 

 nearly round the arm, leaving, however, a shallow longitudinal 

 furrow on the outer side free from gleba. It is composed of 

 a series of close-set horizontal wrinkles, each o-4-o*5 mm. 



