Colus Gardneri. T. Fetch. 129 



other arms. In another specimen, two arms are clearly united, 

 the wrinkled structure being continuous from one to the other. 

 But it is surely misleading to call such a junction a "Mem- 

 brane" ; this one is a tube 1-75 mm. in diameter. 



From the specimens submitted to me, I should deduce 

 that in the young state, in the egg, and probably immediately 

 after expansion, Lysunis anstraliensis has one or more arms 

 free and others united in pairs, and that some time after the 

 plant has expanded the junctions break. If the egg were 

 obtained and the plant allowed to expand under a bell glass, 

 this could easily be determined. 



Fortunately, the distinction between Lysunis Gardneri and 

 Lysunis australieiisis does not depend on the question whether 

 the arms are united or free, and we are consequently spared 

 the trouble of discussing which characteristic should be attri- 

 buted to Lysurus as a genus. But the case illustrates a point 

 which will always bother the classifiers of phalloids, as long as 

 they have to depend on chance collections of expanded speci- 

 mens. For a phalloid is one of the most ephemeral of tropical 

 fungi, and the collector who does not gather his specimens in 

 the early morning cannot gain a correct knowledge of their 

 original form. 



The question which perennially arises in the study of phalloids 

 is this: Are we to describe a phalloid from specimens which 

 have just expanded and are therefore in the most perfect 

 condition, or from specimens which have been expanded for 

 some hours and have begun to collapse ? It is surely incorrect 

 to base classification and discuss affinities on details which 

 only exist in old. broken specimens. 



Setting aside Lysurus as an unsettled case, we may take 

 Dictyophora as an example. When Dictyopliora pJialloidea 

 first expands, its net is rigid and stands out like an old-time 

 crinoline, but in the course of an hour or two, the net collapses 

 into folds, after the manner of a modern (?) petticoat. But 

 there appears to be a general agreement that the net of Dictyo- 

 phora hangs in folds, and it has been suggested that a new 

 species should be founded on Moller's figure, which shows a 

 rigid net. Again, Simblum periphragmoides has a subglobose, 

 netted head at the apex of a stout stalk. When first expanded, 

 the head rests on the top of the stalk like a ball on a stick, but, 

 after a few hours, the basal bars of the net weaken and collapse, 

 and the head sits down on the stalk and sags over the edge. 

 The collapsed form has been made a new species. As an 

 extreme example, Clathrus crispatus may be cited. This is a 

 large Clathrus, 20 cm. diameter, with massive arms and small 

 meshes. Hall an hour after expansion, it breaks up spon- 



